Ratings Roundup: 1.5 Million Viewers Tuned Into the NASCAR Cup Series; TNF on Prime Delivers Its Best Start of the Season to Date

By SVG Staff
Monday, October 6, 2025 - 10:02 am
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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, ESPN secures the most-watched WNBA finals to date featuring the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces; NFL in Dublin game is the second most-watched international NFL game ever; and more.

NESN Posts Largest Red Sox Audience Since 2019, Powered By Younger, More Diverse Fans

NESN, New England’s premier sports network, announces that it closed out the 2025 Red Sox regular season with its highest viewership in six seasons, fueled by significant increases in younger audiences and women viewers, as well as record-breaking streaming growth.

Household ratings rose 50% from 2024, while average viewership among Adults 25-54 surged 136%, both reaching their highest levels since the 2019 season. In addition:

Women’s share of the total audience grew to 44%
The total number of Adult 25-54 viewers increased by 30%
Fans tuned into more games on average: Adults 25-54 watched 37% more and Adults 18-34 by watched 28% more

NESN’s streaming platform, NESN 360, delivered breakout numbers. Total minutes streamed per game more than tripled on the app. This was driven by the average audience per game jumping 181% compared to last season. Viewership among DTC subscribers skyrocketed 387%. Total minutes streamed per game also more than tripled on the app.

The top four NESN 360 games this season included notable moments like Roman Anthony’s debut on June 9, the Friday-night 1-0 win against the Yankees on August 22, at the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 23, and Payton Tolle’s debut on August 29 against Pirates star Paul Skenes.

“The message is clear: Red Sox audiences are bigger, broader, younger, and more engaged than we’ve seen in years,” says David Wisnia, President & CEO of NESN and Sportsnet Pittsburgh. “NESN’s continued development of cutting edge production, surround programming, and alternate telecasts, matched with strong on-field play for the Red Sox, helped attract new fans and bring them closer to the team and players.”

This season, NESN aired 151 Red Sox telecasts, each featuring a full hour of pregame and postgame coverage. The network expanded its cross-platform lineup with the launch of Red Sox Batting Practice Live, the return of alternative casts Unobstructed Views and NESN MultiView, Monster Week, a special 1975 retro telecast and other themed broadcasts, along with the 310 to Left video enabled podcast and additional original programming.

ESPN’s Record-Setting ‘25 MLB Wild Card Series

Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees: Game 2, Weds. Oct. 1
- Most-watched Wild Card series game under new format
- 6.8 million viewers
  - Peaked at 10M
- Record setting ’25 MLB Wild Card Series
  - Across 8 games, the Series is averaging 4.4M viewers, up 65% YoY
  - Under 35 demo up 87% YoY

ESPN’s Record-Setting Day One of MLB Wild Card Series

Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees: Game 1, Tues. Sept. 30
- Most-watched Wild Card series games since the new format debuted
- 6.5 million viewers
  - Peaked at 9.9M
- Most watched Day 1 in the new Wild Card format
  - Across 4 games, Day 1 averaged 4.4M viewers up 73% YoY
  - Under 35 demo up 109% YoY

ESPN Delivers The Most-Watched WNBA Semifinals Ever

Indiana Fever vs Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday September 30 Game 5 averaged 1.8M (peak: 2.1M)
- Most watched WNBA Semifinal Game in 27 years
Semifinals of ’25 WNBA Playoffs averaged
- 1.3M viewers, up 57% YoY on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2
2025 WNBA Playoffs averaging 1.1M, up 15% YoY
WNBA Countdown: To date, in the playoffs have averaged 411K viewers, up 20% YoY

Monday Night Football Draws More Than 21.4 Million Viewers During Two Hours of Overlapping Game Action in Week 4

During Monday Night Football’s Week 4 action (September 29), which featured two games with staggered start times, ESPN Platforms averaged 21.4 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, NFL+) when the Jets at Dolphins (7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Bengals at Broncos (8:15 p.m., ABC) overlapped for two-hours (8:15 p.m. – 10:15 p.m.).

The 21,410,000 viewers is an increase of 5% from the same MNF staggered starts in Week 4 of the 2024 season (20,320,000 viewers). The complete Bengals-Broncos game drew 13.2 million viewers on ABC (8:15-11:17 p.m.).

Minnesota Vikings-Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin is Second Most-Watched NFL Network International Game Ever

Viewership for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Croke Park in Dublin was 7.9 million viewers* (TV+Digital) – ranking as the second most-watched NFL Network International Game on record behind only the 2023 Miami Dolphins-Kansas City Chiefs game in Frankfurt, Germany.

The 7.9 million viewers for Vikings-Steelers is up +68% versus NFL Network’s 2024 International Games average. Additionally, Vikings-Steelers averaged over nine million viewers from 12:30 p.m. ET until the end of the game.

The 2025 International Games continue with three consecutive games in London beginning this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET with the Vikings facing the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, exclusively on NFL Network and available to stream across devices with NFL+.

ESPN and ABC Win College Football’s Week 5; College GameDay’s Most-Viewed Season Rolls On

ESPN and ABC’s college football coverage won all five main windows – Friday primetime, Saturday noon, Saturday late afternoon, Saturday primetime and Saturday late night
ABC is off to its best start ever with 7.1 million average viewers per game, and the network has aired eight of the top 10 most-viewed games this season
ABC has now aired five college football games with 10 million viewers or more, the most ever for a network in a single season
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot delivered 2.3 million viewers from Penn State and 2.9 million viewers in the show’s final hour
Season to date, CGD is pacing up double digits year-over-year (29 percent) and seeing significant gains amongst both women (42 percent) & P18-24 (59 percent) demos

The NASCAR Cup Series Race Earned a 0.79 Household Rating and 1.5 Million Viewers

NASCAR Cup Series: Sunday’s race on USA earned a 0.79 household rating and 1.5 million viewers per minute, ranking NASCAR as the #2 sports event of the day on cable television behind the NFL’s stand-alone game in Dublin on NFL Network
- At peak, 1.9 million viewers were tuned in for the conclusion of the race
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Saturday’s race on The CW averaged a 0.42 household rating with 749,000 average viewers per minute, ranking as the #1 program of the week on The CW for the 26^th time in 28 NXS races this season
- At peak, 898,000 viewers were tuned in to the conclusion of the race
NFL Football: Accounted for 8 of the Top 10 sports telecasts of the week led by NBC’s Sunday Night Football featuring Green Bay/Dallas, which averaged a 11.21 household rating and 23.0 million viewers tuned in per minute, ranking as the #1 sports telecast of the week. This was up +15% over Sunday Night Football on NBC this same week last year featuring Buffalo/Baltimore (20.0 million).
- NFL Network’s exclusive game from Dublin featuring Minnesota/Pittsburgh on Sunday (9:33AM-12:47PM) earned a 3.28 household rating and 7.04 million viewers tuned in per minute. While there is no direct YOY comparison, this is up +58% from NFL Network’s exclusive games from London & Munich last year (4.45 million, 4 games)
- Sunday’s NFL coverage across FOX, CBS, & NBC averaged a 9.07 household rating and 19.4 million viewers, up +2% over Week 4 Sunday coverage last year
NCAA Football: Saturday night’s game on ABC featuring Alabama/Georgia was this week’s most-watched NCAA Football game, earning a 4.59 household rating and 10.26 million viewers, down -15% vs. the same matchup this same week last year (12.0M on ABC)
- Saturday afternoon’s NXS race aired opposite some major NCAAF competition:
  - LSU/Ole Miss on ABC, 6.11 million, up +21% vs. same window last year (Oklahoma/Auburn, 5.0 million)
  - Ohio State/Washington on CBS, 5.0 million, up +73% vs. same window last year (Wisconsin/USC, 2.9 million)
  - Auburn/Texas A&M on ESPN, 2.4 million, up +32% vs. same window last year (Arkansas/Texas A&M, 1.8 million)
  - Utah/West Virginia on FOX, 1.5 million, down -65% vs. same window last year (Colorado/UCF, 4.2 million)
Ryder Cup (golf): Sunday’s singles matches from Bethpage Black on NBC earned a 1.41 household rating with 2.7 million viewers tuned in per minute, down -23% versus Ryder Cup Sunday in 2021 (3.5 million)
- Saturday’s coverage, which aired for more than 11 hours on NBC, earned a 1.35 household rating with 2.4 million viewers per minute, down -20% versus 2021
- Friday’s Day 1 coverage on USA Network (7AM-6:20PM) earned a 0.85 household rating and 1.6 million viewers per minute, up +8% over Day 1 coverage in 2021 on GOLF Channel (1.5 million)
- Narrowly avoiding a major comeback from the United States on Sunday (U.S. won Sunday’s singles matches 8.5-3.5), Team Europe won the event 15-13
- The bi-annual event is compared to the prior domestic Ryder Cup, which took place at in Kohler, Wisconsin in 2021
Premier League: Sunday morning’s Premier League match on USA featuring Arsenal/Newcastle was the most-watched Premier League match of the week with a 0.23 household rating and an average of 421,000 viewers per minute, down -35% vs. this same window last year on USA (Tottenham/Manchester United, 649,000)
- The 6 matches on USA Network Saturday and Sunday averaged a 0.17 household rating with 315,000 viewers per minute, down -31% from this same weekend last year which featured 5 matchups Saturday/Sunday (457,000)
Weekend Motorsports, ranked by audience size:
- NCS (Kansas II): 1.490 million viewers on USA
- NXS (Kansas): 749,000 viewers on The CW
- ARCA (Kansas): 190,000 viewers on FS1
- NHRA (WWTR): 153,000 viewers on FS1

NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 –Aired Sunday, September 28^th on USA

U.S. Rating
- 2025: 0.79 on USA
- Down -18% versus 2024 Kansas II on USA (0.96)
Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
- 2025: 1,490 (1.5 million)
- Down -17% versus 2024 Kanas II on USA (1.8 million)

NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 – Aired Saturday September 27^th on The CW

U.S. Rating
- 2025: 0.42 on The CW
- Down -7% versus 2024 Kansas on The CW (0.45)
Avg. Viewers (all ages P2+)
- 2025: 749,000
- Down -3% versus 2024 Kansas (769,000)

Packers-Cowboys OT Thriller Averages Nearly 27 Million Viewers On NBC & Peacock, As NBC Sports Opens With Best Four-Week Audience Average In 20 Seasons Of NBC SNF

All eyes were on defensive end Micah Parsons as he joined his new Green Bay teammates against Dallas on Sunday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, exactly one month after the Cowboys traded him to the Packers.

While Parsons provided the pregame buzz, the on-field fireworks came from the offenses – led by quarterbacks Jordan Love and Dak Prescott, who each passed for 300+ yards and three touchdowns and combined to lead nine consecutive scoring drives to finish the game in a 40-40 overtime tie.

It was a matchup made for the milestone 20th season of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, averaging 26.9 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, based on official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics. The audience peaked at 29.9 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15 p.m. ET).

Through Week 4 (five games), SNF is averaging 25.5 million viewers across NBC and Peacock – marking the best four-week start in the 20-season history of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and up six percent from 2024.

Additional metrics and milestones:

Packers-Cowboys is the most-watched of the 19 overtime games in NBC SNF history (topping the audience of 26.6 million viewers as Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to a 34-31 come-from-behind victory after trailing Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos 24-0 in Week 12 of 2013).
NBC’s Football Night in America on Sunday delivered its most-watched show since Oct. 3, 2021, averaging 11.4 million viewers. For the season, FNIA is averaging 9.7 million viewers – its best start through Week 4 since 2015 and up 24% from this point last season.
SNF is off to its best four-week streaming start ever with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 3.1 million viewers across Peacock, NBC Sports Digital platforms, and NFL Digital platforms – up 7% from last season, based on data from Adobe Analytics.

TNF on Prime Delivering Its Best Start Ever

Three games into its fourth season on the service, TNF on Prime is performing at an all-time-high, establishing a season-to-date average of 15.83 million viewers, which is +6% ahead of last year’s record pace at this point (14.88M), +20% ahead of last year’s full-season average (13.20M), and the best start for any TNF season in a decade.

TNF continues to attract the next generation of fans, with a median age almost eight years younger than audiences watching the NFL on linear, and more viewers within the P18-34 demographic than any other full-season package of NFL games. Meanwhile, TNF on Prime is also attracting more viewers than ever in the P55+ demo, with an impressive +13% increase over last year’s full-season average.

Below, please find viewership highlights from Thursday’s Seahawks-Cardinals game, and the first three weeks of the 2025 TNF campaign. Please note that all current figures are from Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement. Per Nielsen policy, 2025 Big Data + Panel figures are to be compared with Panel Only measurement figures from previous years.

Seahawks-Cardinals averaged 13.25M viewers, down 18% from last season’s comparable game, which at the time set a TNF on Prime viewership record (16.23M, Cowboys-Giants, 9/26/24).

Seahawks-Cardinals attracted a peak audience of 15.23 million viewers between 9:15 and 9:29 PM ET.

Through three games, TNF on Prime is averaging 15.83M viewers, the best start for TNF on any network since 2015.

The three-week average is up +6% vs. last year’s season-to-date
average (14.88M), +20% over the 2024 full-season average (13.20M), +33% over the 2023 full-season average (11.86M), and +65% over the 2022 full-season average (9.58M).

Through three games, TNF is delivering more viewers within the coveted P18-34 demo than any other full-season NFL package.

Within the P18-34 demo, TNF is averaging 3.28M viewers, up +26% vs. last year’s season average (2.61M).
Within the P18-49 demo, TNF is averaging 7.60M viewers, up +27% vs. 2024 season average (5.99M).
Within the P25-54 demo, TNF is averaging 8.16M viewers, up +24% vs. 2024 season average (6.58M).
Within the P55+ demo, TNF is averaging 5.80M viewers, up + +13% vs. 2024 season average (5.12M).

Season-to-date, TNF on Prime’s median age is 47.5, which is 7.5 years younger than audiences watching the NFL on linear networks (55.0).
TNF on Prime’s postgame show, TNF Nightcap, is averaging 2.86M viewers, an increase of +40% over last year’s full-season average (2.04M), and +55% over the 2023 full-season average (1.85M).
TNF Tonight, TNF on Prime’s pregame show that kicks off each week at 7:00PM ET, is averaging 1.87M viewers, an increase of +22% over last year’s full-season average (1.53M), and +35% over the 2023 full-season average (1.39M).

FanDuel Sports Network Caps Record MLB Season, Averaging 1.5M Nightly Viewers

FanDuel Sports Network, operated by Main Street Sports Group, closed out the 2025 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season with record-setting streaming and linear audience growth across its nine MLB partner teams, showcasing the company’s multiplatform momentum.

MLB coverage on FanDuel Sports Network averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.5 million daily viewers across linear, outer-market and streaming platforms, up 18% over the 2024 season.

Since Opening Day, more than 900,000 unique users streamed their hometown teams through the FanDuel Sports Network app, representing a 70% year-over-year lift. Fans watched more than 2.8 billion minutes, making 2025 the most-streamed MLB season in network history, underscoring FanDuel Sports Network’s ability to engage the next generation of MLB fans. On linear television, household viewership climbed 16% compared to last season, with seven of nine teams seeing audience growth, marking the highest year over year increase on the networks in 10 years.

“This season’s results are a powerful validation of the scale and sustainability of what we’re creating, driving growth for clubs, delivering value for partners, and reshaping the local sports media business long term. We’re excited to carry this momentum into the NHL and NBA seasons this fall,” says David Preschlack, CEO of Main Street Sports Group.

2025 Season Highlights

Streaming Growth:

Total minutes streamed surged 101% year-over-year, with fans watching over 2.8 billion minutes.
On average, fans watched 92 minutes per game.
Unique streamers per game grew 94% year over year.

Linear Television Success:

7 of 9 teams grew their linear audiences, driving an overall 16% household (HH) increase.
The Angels, Royals and Marlins posted strong double-digit HH gains, while the Tigers delivered standout triple-digit household growth.

“Our direct-to-consumer growth is the clearest signal yet of how fans want to connect with their teams,” says Michael Schneider, COO, DTC, Main Street Sports Group. “Several clubs exceeded our internal subscriber forecasts, and that rapid adoption gives us real momentum for the future. Add in triple-digit streaming gains for some clubs and nearly a billion and a half more minutes watched, and it’s clear the appetite for flexible access is only accelerating.”

With multiplatform reach, a growing direct-to-consumer base, and a proven ability to engage younger streaming audiences, FanDuel Sports Network is well-positioned to carry this momentum forward into the fall sports calendar and beyond.

ESPN’s 2025 MLB Game Viewership Up 21 Percent From Last Year

1.8M average viewers
- Across 30 games this season
- ESPN’s MLB game viewership increased 14% in people 18-49 demo