Latest news with #SportsMediaWatch
Reuters
4 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
LSU earns most-watched sweep in best-of-three MCWS era
June 24 - LSU not only added to its resume as a college baseball power, the program also continued to be a solid television viewing draw with ratings numbers for the Men's College World Series released Monday. LSU's championship series against Coastal Carolina at Omaha, Neb., was the most-watched two-game sweep in the 10 occurrences of the best-of-three format, according to Sports Media Watch. The two games averaged 2.5-million viewers on ESPN, slightly down from an average of 2.82-million viewers for last year's three-game series between Tennessee and Texas A&M. Sunday's Game 2, when LSU earned a 5-3 victory, had an average of 2.8-million viewers, slightly behind last season's Game 2 that averaged 2.92 million in a contest that was not a clincher. The 2025 Men's College World Series final series ranked No. 4 in viewership since the best-of-three series started in 2003. LSU has been involved in three of the top four final series in that span with the 2023 title over Florida ranked as the most watched with an average of 2.86-million viewers. The entire Men's College World Series this year averaged 1.2 million viewers, the third largest since 2011. --Field Level Media
New York Times
10-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Despite no Caitlin Clark, Fever-Sky broadcast drew nearly 2 millions viewers
When the WNBA national schedule was announced last March, one of the most potentially significant games from a viewership perspective was the June 7 game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky on CBS. The meeting was the league's first-ever regular-season primetime game on national television — and it was no coincidence that CBS and the WNBA worked together to feature a game involving Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Advertisement Games airing on network television entities such as CBS or ABC bring more eyeballs, given network reach over cable, and reach is very important for the growth of any pro sports league. The game was one of eight regular-season games the CBS television network was scheduled to air during the 2025 WNBA season. Of course by the time the game rolled around, Clark had been sidelined with a quad injury — a bummer for the audience. The game itself was also not close: The Fever dismantled the Sky 79-52 at the United Center despite missing Clark and head coach Stephanie White. How did the game do viewership-wise? CBS said on Tuesday it had averaged 1.924 million viewers, making it the third most-watched WNBA game on any network this season. Sports Media Watch noted it was the eighth-largest WNBA regular-season audience since 2001, and the 10th-largest including the playoffs. Of those games, it was the second-most watched that did not include Clark, behind Game 5 of last year's WNBA Finals. The most-watched game this season was also contested by these two teams: The Fever's 93-58 win over the Sky on May 17 drew 2.7 million viewers on ABC. That set a record for the most-viewed WNBA regular-season game across ESPN networks and is believed to be the most-viewed WNBA regular-season game in 25 years, since the era when NBC aired the WNBA. The Fever-Liberty on CBS drew 2.22 million viewers and is the second most-watched game of the 2025 season. These data points give you an immediate sense of Clark's popularity (newsflash: it's massive). It also is a nice story for the league in that they drew nearly 2 million viewers in a game Clark did not play. Last June, the Fever and Sky drew 2.25 million viewers for a CBS game, which at the time marked the WNBA's most-watched game in 23 years. Big picture: The numbers continue the trend from last year when the WNBA had 22 regular-season games that averaged more than one million viewers — the first time since 2008 that a WNBA game topped one million viewers.
Reuters
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Paige Bueckers' WNBA debut drives huge ratings bump
May 21 - Folks already know about Caitlin Clark's popularity, but the WNBA might have discovered its newest television ratings bump in 2025 top overall draft pick Paige Bueckers. According to a report from Front Office Sports, Friday's opening-night game between Bueckers' Dallas Wings and the Minnesota Lynx, coupled with the back-half of that doubleheader, averaged over 612,000 viewers, which was a 121 percent increase over a comparable window from the previous season. Due to the Clark effect, Ion's 43 games broadcasted last year averaged 677,000 viewers, a 133 percent increase from 2023 -- before Clark's rookie season with the Indiana Fever. But removing Clark games from the equation, Friday's two broadcasts -- the late contest was the first game for the expansion Golden State Valkyries vs. the Los Angeles Sparks -- were the second- and third-most watched games ever on Ion, per Sports Media Watch. Ion announced on Tuesday the viewership was 649,000 for Lynx-Wings and 581,000 for Sparks-Valykyries. Bueckers was a three-time All-American at the University of Connecticut and the national player of the year in 2021. She had career averages of 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals for the Huskies, becoming the sixth UConn player to be selected first in the WNBA draft. The rookie finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes for the Wings in a 99-84 home loss. --Field Level Media
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese rivalry game draws big ratings
May 20 - Saturday's game between the Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky drew an average of 2.7 million viewers on ABC, making it the most watched WNBA regular-season contest in 25 years, per Sports Media Watch. The game, which peaked at 3.1 million viewers, drew the league's second-largest average audience for any event -- save for last year's WNBA All-Star Game (3.44 million). It was the largest regular-season audience since Memorial Day 2000. The Fever thrashed the rival Sky 93-58, with Clark recording a triple-double and picking up her first flagrant foul as a pro. Clark fouled Angel Reese to prevent a clear layup, and Reese was incensed and shouted at her for several moments after the whistle. Clark's foul was upgraded after review to a flagrant-1, and Reese received two free throws. The WNBA is investigating allegations of hateful comments or noises made toward the players during the incident. A video shared on social media showed a male fan -- wearing a red replica Caitlin Clark jersey with matching shorts -- sitting courtside and making high-pitched noises while Reese shot a free throw with 4:38 left in the third quarter. On Sunday, the WNBA released a statement saying that it was "aware of the allegations" and looking into the matter. --Field Level Media
USA Today
18-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Adam Silver seems to credit Luka Doncic trade for late-season rise in NBA ratings
Adam Silver seems to credit Luka Doncic trade for late-season rise in NBA ratings This season, there has been lots of talk about the drop in NBA ratings on television. Many have had various theories on why those ratings have been down, ranging from too many 3-point attempts, homogenized halfcourt offenses, load management and too much competition from other sports and events during the fall. While viewership was down significantly early in the season — according to Sports Media Watch, it was down by about 20% at the time — it rebounded afterward. After the trade deadline, viewership increased by 16% compared to prior to the deadline, excluding opening day and Christmas games. It appears that a major factor in that rebound is the monumental trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Several of the Lakers' marquee games following the Doncic trade got outstanding television ratings, and commissioner Adam Silver seemed to acknowledge this during an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Thursday. "I think you saw tremendous competition around the league, teams playing for playoff seeding, teams playing to get into the playoffs, healthy stars, a trade that attracted a lot of attention," Silver said. "A bunch of things happened in the league that generated a lot of interest." Overall, NBA viewership for the entire regular season was only down 2% from last season. Even though games on ESPN and TNT were down 7%, contests shown on ABC got average ratings that were 10% higher than last season. By comparison, the NFL, the nation's most popular pro sports league, also saw a 2% decline in ratings for the 2024 season, while college football and college basketball, both of which are wildly popular, saw greater decreases in viewership.
