Ratings Roundup: NHL Hits Record High Viewership and Fan Engagement in Decades
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Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, 2024 WNBA Draft is the most watched of all-time; UFC 300 is most watched PPV prelim across platforms; and more.
2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round On ESPN Nets up 65%
- Across North America, the opening weekend of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs delivered an average audience of 2.62 million viewers, up 11% YOY, with 17.095 million unique viewers tuning into games over the first two days (up 3% YOY).
- Maple Leafs/Bruins Game 1 on TBS/truTV/Max is the second most-watched First Round Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Playoffs series ever on cable (1.1 million viewers)
- Sunday’s First Round games on ESPN/ESPN2 averaged 1.04M total viewers and 429K P18-49, up 65% and 48% vs. 2023’s Game 1 average (7 games, Mon/Tue overlapping telecasts)
- Capitals-Rangers is the most-viewed Game 2 of a First Round NHL Playoff series ever on cable, averaging 1.3M viewers (peaking at 1.5M) and 526K P18-49
- Avalanche-Jets is ESPN2’s most-viewed First Round NHL Playoff game ever and third most-viewed Game 1 of a First Round NHL Playoff series ever on cable, averaging 1.1M total viewers (peaking at 1.4M) and 456K P18-49
2024 SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament Averages 3.22 Million Viewers Across TNT and ESPN
- Up 22% versus last year
The 2023-24 NHL Regular Season on ESPN Platforms Delivered Double-Digit Viewership Increases
- Regular Season
- 2023-2024 NHL regular season on ESPN averaged 486K total viewers and 211K P18-49, up 25% and 20% YoY
- 2023-2024 NHL regular season on ESPN networks averaged 666K total viewers and 230K P18-49, up 13% and 4% YoY
- 2024 NHL Stadium Series delivered most-viewed regular season game since ESPN re-acquired NHL rights in 2021 (NYR-NYI averaged 1.6M viewers)
- ESPN’s NHL Opening Night triple header averaged 909K total viewers and 439K P18-49 (peaking at 1.65M), up 40% and 45% vs. last year’s opening night doubleheader (TBL – NYR, VGK – LAK)
- ESPN.com NHL digital traffic generated 42M unique viewers and 1.5B minutes, up 14% and 11% YoY
- Thursday night’s final regular season doubleheader on ESPN
- Seattle-Minnesota averaged 591K viewers and 240K P18-49 (peaking at 770K), up 50% and 36% vs. last season’s NHL on ESPN average
- Edmonton-Colorado averaged 482K viewers and 211K P18-49 (peaking at 687K), up 23% and 20% vs. last season’s NHL on ESPN average
NHL’s Best Season Yet = Record Ratings, Record Fan Engagement
- The 2023-24 regular season is the most-watched regular season since 2015-16 and the most-watched regular season on cable in 30 years in the U.S.
- More than 58.6 million fans across North America tuned into NHL games during the 2023-24 regular season
- Across TNT, ESPN and ABC, the NHL is up 8% over last season (504,000 average viewers)
- On cable, (across ESPN/TNT), the NHL is up 8% YoY (410,000 viewers)
- In Canada, Hockey Night in Canada is up 7% YoY (1.265 million average viewers)
- In-arena, the NHL set an all-time record for total attendance in a single season, with 22,873,1142 fans taking in NHL games live during the 2023-24 regular season (97% capacity) – more than any other in the League’s 106-year history.
CBS Sports Delivers Record UEFA Champions League Viewership
- Wednesday’s Manchester City-Real Madrid Match Ranks #1 All Time with 1.11 Million Viewers, Up +25% vs. Last Year’s Comparable Match
- Real Madrid’s Victory Peaked with 1.58 Million Viewers
- Paramount+ Recorded its Most-Streamed Soccer Match Ever with Double-Digit Growth in Households and Streaming Minutes vs. the 2023 UCL Final
- Paramount+ had its Most-Streamed Day of Soccer Ever on Wednesday with Man City-Real Madrid and Bayern Munich-Arsenal Matches
ESPN Delivered Top Two Most-Watched SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament Eastern Conference Games Ever on April 17
ESPN delivered the top two most-watched SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament Eastern Conference games ever on April 17. The matchup between the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers on ESPN is the most-watched Eastern Conference NBA Play-In Tournament game ever, according to Nielsen. The 76ers 105-104 victory over the Heat averaged 3,403,000 viewers, peaking with 5,490,000 viewers at 9:30 p.m. ET. Viewership for the Heat vs. 76ers game was up 52 percent from last year’s Eastern Conference 7th seed vs. 8th seed game.
The Atlanta Hawks vs. Chicago Bulls Eastern Conference game also delivered significant audience increases. The game broadcast on ESPN averaged 3,071,000 viewers, up 31 percent from last year’s Eastern Conference 9th seed vs. 10th seed Eastern Conference NBA Play-In Tournament game. The Bulls victory over the Hawks ranks only behind this year’s Heat vs. 76ers game, becoming the second-most watched Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament game ever.
Additionally, NBA Countdown Presented By Hennessy averaged 591,000 viewers leading into the April 17 doubleheader, up 52 percent from last year’s NBA Countdown show leading into NBA Play-In Tournament coverage.
NBA Delivers Increased Viewership and Engagement in Africa During 2023-24 Season
NBA Africa announces that the 2023-24 regular season delivered increased television viewership in Africa as well as increased engagement across the league’s localized social media accounts on the continent. Highlights include:
Live Game Viewership
- The more than 140 live game telecasts in Africa generated a 41% year-over-year increase in average viewership and nearly 6 million total watch hours.
NBA Africa Social Media
- NBA Africa’s localized social media accounts generated nearly 90 million video views.
- The NBA Africa YouTube channel generated a more than 230% year-over-year increase in video views, driven by the NBA All-Star Africa Takeover influencer campaign that generated more than 2 million video views.
- The number of followers of NBA Africa’s localized social media accounts increased by 20% year-over-year.
- Globally, Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs; France; ties to Democratic Republic of the Congo) and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria) were among the 10 most-viewed players globally on NBA social media this season, with 1.3 billion and 558 million views, respectively.
Merchandise
- Driven by the opening of NBA Stores in Cape Town and Durban, in addition to the NBA Store in Johannesburg, jersey sales in South Africa increased by nearly 150% year-over-year.
Digital Platforms
- NBA Africa’s first original docu-series “Born & Bred”, which tells the stories of five current and former NBA Academy Africa student-athletes from Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and South Sudan, has generated more than 20,000 video views on the NBA App.
Monumental Sports Network Sets High Viewership Mark During April 16th’s Capitals Game
Monumental Sports Network (MNMT), the local media platform owned and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), registered record viewership for Tuesday’s game between the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, won 2-1 by the Capitals to secure a berth in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The April 16 telecast was Monumental Sports Network’s most watched single-game regular season broadcast since the network rebranded from NBC Sports Washington and relaunched in September 2023. It also marked the most watched regular season game on either network since February 1, 2022 (Capitals at Penguins).
Notably, Monumental Sports Network outperformed NBC, ABC, CBS, and ESPN in the Washington, D.C. market during the game
“We are ecstatic to end the Capitals regular season on such a high note for our network and showcase all of the incredible enhancements we have made to our broadcast this season,” says Friday Abernethy, General Manager, Monumental Sports Network. “I’m grateful to all the fans that tuned in to watch Tuesday night’s instant classic.”
ESPN: More Viewership Successes to Begin 2024
- ESPN delivers double-digit audience growth among all viewers in quarter two
- +12% in total day
- 710K average viewers
- +14% in primetime
- 1.7M average viewers
- +12% in total day
- Additional highlights
- P18-49
- +5% in total day
- +10% in primetime
- P18-49
Final Round of The Masters Down From 2023
Sunday’s final round of the Masters averaged a 5.2 rating and 9.59 million viewers on CBS, down 5% in ratings and 20% in viewership from last year (5.5, 12.06M), according to SportsMediaWatch. Scottie Scheffler’s win, which peaked with 12.56 million viewers, only tops the two COVID-affected years of 2020 (3.4, 5.64M) and 2021 (5.5, 9.54M) as the lowest rated since 1957 and the least-watched since 1993. The final round of the Masters still ranks as the most-watched golf telecast and one of the most-watched sporting events of the past year. Overall, CBS averaged 8.21 million for its two-day coverage of the Masters, down 9% from last year (8.99M), down 7% from 2022 (8.86M) and the lowest since 2021 (7.41M).
2024 WNBA Draft Delivers Largest Viewership Ever
- Most-viewed WNBA draft EVER with 2.45 million viewers
- Most-viewed WNBA event on ESPN platforms
- Viewership peaked with 3.09 million viewers
- +307% over previous high (2004)
- Most-viewed program of the night among people under 35
- 1.06 million women viewers, +374% YoY
- Most-viewed WNBA Countdown EVER
- Social was up +1164% total engagements YoY
UFC 300: Unrivaled Greatness Leads to Record-Breaking Viewership Across ESPN Platforms
UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill on Saturday from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was a historic night for the sport of MMA and a can’t-miss milestone for UFC fans, over-delivering in every category, exclusively on ESPN+ PPV. The card, one of the sport’s deepest ever, had fans locked in from the very beginning with Deiveson Figueiredo’s second-round finish in the first early prelim fight.
“UFC 300 outperformed in every way and delivered an iconic night that fans will always remember,” says Matt Kenny, ESPN vice president, programming & acquisitions. “No one covers big events like ESPN and UFC 300 is the latest example of what we can accomplish together with UFC. 2024 is shaping up to be a huge year for UFC on our platforms and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come.”
The non-stop action saw fans watching in record numbers across ESPN platforms. UFC 300 also saw the exciting debut of UFC on Hulu SVOD during the early prelims and prelims.
UFC 300 x ESPN Viewership Fast Facts (early prelims & prelims)
- Most-watched UFC PPV…
- Prelims ever across platforms (ESPN+, Hulu SVOD, ESPN & ESPN Deportes combined)
- Prelims ever on ESPN
- Early prelims ever on ESPN
ESPN Has Largest Two-Day Viewership Average for Masters Tournament 3 p.m. ET Telecasts Since 2018
Friday’s Second Round Telecast Averages 3.6 Million Viewers, Up 69 Percent Over 2023
ESPN’s live coverage of the first and second rounds of the Masters Tournament on Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, attracted the largest two-day average viewership for the 3 p.m. ET telecasts since 2018, according to Nielsen Fast National data.
A two-day average of 3.4 million viewers watched the live coverage from Augusta National Golf Club, including 3.2 million for the first round on Thursday and 3.6 million for the second round on Friday. Both telecasts ran from 3 p.m. until approximately 8 p.m.
The audience of 3.6 million for the second round was up 69 percent over the viewership average of 2.1 million for the rain-delayed second round in 2023. Friday’s audience peaked at 3.9 million in the 5:30 p.m. quarter-hour.
On Friday morning, ESPN also aired live coverage of the conclusion of the first round, which was suspended on Thursday due to darkness. The telecast averaged 922,000 viewers from 7:45-10 a.m
Masters Tournament First Round Thursday Viewership on ESPN Averages 3.2 Million Viewers, Highest Since 2015
ESPN’s live telecast of the first round of the Masters Tournament on Thursday, April 11, averaged 3.2 million viewers, the highest for the first round since 2015 and a jump of 28 percent in viewership over last year’s first round. The telecast aired from 3-8:06 p.m. ET and the audience peaked at 3.8 million in the 6:15 p.m. quarter hour.
Last year’s first round of the Masters Tournament averaged 2.5 million viewers on ESPN.
The Welcome to the Masters lead-in program averaged 594,000 viewers from 1-3 p.m. on ESPN.
For the two weekend days of the Masters, live streaming coverage of Featured Groups and Featured Holes (Holes 4, 5 and 6, Amen Corner and Holes 15 and 16) continues on ESPN+ all day, each day of the Tournament.
In addition to the live streaming coverage on ESPN+, SportsCenter and ESPN.com will continue to report from the Masters throughout the weekend.
