Ratings Roundup: ESPN Secures Third Most-Watched NBA Season Opener Ever; Men’s College Hockey on ESPN2 Sees Highest Viewership Since 2018
Story Highlights
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, MLB post-season drives viewership across global audiences; MLS on AppleTV up over 25% year over year; and more.
ESPN’s Third-Most Watched NBA Season-Opening Wednesday Ever
ESPN generated its third-most watched NBA season-opening Wednesday ever for its doubleheader on October 22, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. The two-game slate averaged 2.33 million viewers, up 44 percent from last year.
The San Antonio Spurs victory over the Dallas Mavericks generated an average audience of 2.49 million viewers, peaking with an audience of 2.86 million. The viewership was up 63 percent from last year’s ESPN opening night comparable game.
Furthermore, the Spurs vs. Mavericks game on ESPN was the most-watched primetime program across all of television for October 22 among all key demographics, including People under 50 and Adults and Males 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.
In addition, the New York Knicks win over the Cleveland Cavaliers averaged 2.17 million viewers, up 26 percent from last year’s comparable game. The audience peaked with 2.84 million viewers.
Inside the NBA
Viewership for the debut episode of Inside the NBA on ESPN scored multi-year highs. The postgame show on October 22 averaged one million viewers, making it the most-watched regular-season episode of Inside the NBA since February 2023. It was up 13 percent from last year’s Inside the NBA opening night postgame show.
Largest Audience for “NBA Tip-Off” Doubleheader Since 2010 as NBA Returned to NBC And Debuted On Peacock
The NBA returned to NBC and debuted on Peacock in thrilling fashion on Tuesday night with the first “NBA Tip-Off” double overtime game in 20 years and star-studded performances across a pair of Western Conference matchups, delivering the largest “NBA Tip-Off” doubleheader audience since 2010 (excluding 2011 opening games on Christmas holiday) with an average of 5.6 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, based on official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics. The 2010 NBA Tip-Off doubleheader (5.7 million viewers) featured LeBron James’ debut with the Miami Heat in the opener.
Tuesday night’s audience across NBC and Peacock peaked at 7.1 million viewers from 10:45-11 p.m. ET as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder to a one-point win over the Houston Rockets in double overtime. Alperen Sengun led Houston with 39 points and Kevin Durant scored 23 points in his Rockets’ debut.
For the full game, Thunder-Rockets averaged 5.9 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. It was only the sixth tip-off game to reach double overtime in NBA history and the first since 2005. In the entire 2024-25 season, there were only four double OT games.
The Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Lakers nightcap averaged 5.1 million viewers across NBC and Peacock (measured from 11:02 p.m. ET, when the game was joined in progress on NBC, to 12:42 a.m. ET). Jimmy Butler scored 31 points and the Warriors hit 17 three-pointers in a 119-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and Luka Dončić, who scored a game-high 43 points.
NBC’s Nielsen-only viewership powered the NBC broadcast network to win the night in primetime among Adults 18-49 against all networks.
Tuesday night’s Average Minute Audience (AMA) for NBA “Tip-Off” on Peacock and NBC Sports Digital was 1.0 million viewers, based on data from Adobe Analytics, marking NBC Sports’ largest simulstream audience ever, excluding NFL and Olympics.
In addition, Tuesday’s “Roundball Rock” show open delivered 5.6 million impressions on NBC Sports’ social media platforms.
The NBA on NBC Delivers Unrivaled Results for Brands
- According to data from EDO, NBC’s NBA Tip-Off audiences were +20% more likely to search for advertisers vs the 2024-2025 NBA season average.
- NBA Tip-Off games drove more social engagements than any other programming on Tuesday and were the #1 and #2 trending searches on Google, further showcasing the power of broadcast.
- NBC delivered for its sponsors from the start, as viewers believed key sponsorships in the Tip-Off telecasts were a +31% stronger fit than those in the NBA last regular season. (Marketcast TVBE).
- As previously announced, NBCUniversal has already exceeded advertising expectations for the return season of the NBA to NBC, with nearly all inventory already sold out.
ESPN’s Second Most-Viewed Regular Season Game of New NHL Deal Excluding Opening Night and Stadium Series
The 2025-26 NHL season on ESPN continued Tuesday with the Florida Panthers-Boston Bruins (ESPN), delivering ESPN’s second most-viewed regular season game of the new NHL deal (excluding opening night and Stadium Series). The matchup averaged 822K viewers, +102% vs. NHL on ESPN average last year.
Tuesday’s doubleheader averaged 594K viewers, +46% vs. last year’s full NHL on ESPN average (peak: 913K).
Through seven games, the NHL on ESPN is averaging 638K viewers, +34% vs. comparable point last season.
MLS on Apple TV Up 29% YoY
MLS viewership on Apple TV and other outlets shows the league was up 29% year-over-year for regular-season weekend matches in 2025, according to SBJ. In some of the first viewership data to be released publicly, MLS had 3.7 million global aggregate viewers for a full slate of weekend games — somewhere in the range of 12-15 matches per weekend — most of which were primetime windows.
Yankees Games On YES Experience 5% Year-Over-Year Total Audience Delivery Growth
The New York Yankees’ successful drive to its MLB-record 60th post-season berth this past season resulted in year-over-year YES Network Total Audience Delivery growth.
Among the 2025 Yankees season highlights:
- Per Nielsen, Total Audience Delivery for New York Yankees games on YES in the New York DMA in the 2025 season was up 5% year-over-year (293,000 vs. 279,000 average Total Viewers)
- Per Nielsen, 49% of YES’ Yankees games averaged more than 300,000 Total Viewers in the New York DMA, compared to 33% of YES’ Yankees games reaching that Total Audience Delivery benchmark last year
The Gotham Sports App
- Streamed viewership of Yankees games was up 91% year-over-year in the New York DMA, per Nielsen
- Live Stats impressions on connected/Smart TVs within YES’ streamed Yankees game telecasts grew by 169% year-over-year throughout YES’ regional coverage territory
- Pick-N-Play Live game participation within YES’ streamed Yankees game telecasts increased by 28% year-over-year throughout YES’ regional coverage territory
Social Media
- YES gained 126,900 followers/subscribers across its various social media accounts during the 2025 MLB season
MLB Postseason and International Stars Drive Record Global Viewership
As the Los Angeles Dodgers get ready to defend their World Series title against the Toronto Blue Jays, global viewership for the MLB Postseason has registered big audiences who are following the exciting action, close games and international stars. Through the League Championship Series, MLB Postseason viewership is averaging 4.48 million viewers in the United States making it the most-watched Postseason since 2017 and an increase of +13% over last year.
American League Championship Series Game 7 between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners, which launched MLB’s only Canadian team into the Fall Classic for the first time in 32 years, averaged 15.03 million viewers combined in the U.S. and Canada. The thrilling deciding game drew 9.03 million viewers across FOX, FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports Streaming Services and was the most-watched ALCS game since 2017. It was also the most-watched Blue Jays game ever on Sportsnet in Canada (6 million average viewers). Viewership for the entire ALCS in the U.S. (FOX/FS1) and Canada (Sportsnet) averaged a combined 9.39 million viewers, which is +60% higher than 2024 (5.88 million) for the combined FOX/FS1/Sportsnet coverage of the NLCS.
Japanese fans continue to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki, in record numbers. The Dodgers sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers was the most-watched National League Championship Series ever in Japan (7.34 million average viewers), a +26% increase over last year (5.83 million), which was the previous record. This year also featured the second most-watched LCS game ever in Japan (10.26 million viewers) for NLCS Game 4 where Ohtani hit three home runs and struck out 10 in what many have called the greatest individual Postseason performance of all-time.
“The 2025 MLB Postseason has featured thrilling games and historic performances capturing the imagination of baseball fans around the world,” says Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. “This World Series will demonstrate that America’s favorite pastime is also truly a global game.”
The 2025 World Series presented by Capital One starts on Friday night at Rogers Centre in Toronto and will be broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 languages.
According to each Club’s LCS roster, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers combine for 13 internationally born players, spanning eight different countries and territories, including Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and Venezuela.
Buccaneers at Lions Delivers 18.8 Million Viewers, ESPN’s Most-Watched Monday Night Football Week 7 Game Ever
ESPN’s Monday Night Football Week 7 aired a true doubleheader, which included a new record viewership for the first game, as the Buccaneers and Lions (7 p.m. ET) began the night, followed by the Texans and Seahawks (10 p.m. ET).
The Buccaneers at Lions game generated an audience of 18.8 million viewers, making it ESPN’s most-watched MNF Week 7 game ever (2006 – present) and up 19% from last season’s early MNF Week 7 game (Ravens at Buccaneers), which also aired on ESPN and ABC. Additionally, the Buccaneers-Lions game is ESPN’s most-watched individual game on weeks with multiple MNF games, whether a true doubleheader or two games with staggered start times (54 games in total).
Please note: ESPN has aired multiple MNF games in 27 weeks since 2006, with 17 doubleheaders from 2006 through 2020 and 2025, and 10 weeks of multiple games with staggered start times from 2022 to present.
Accounting for both games (7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.), ESPN averaged 12.7 million viewers for the doubleheader, its second-best average across two games in a single night since 2015, trailing only this season’s Week 2 doubleheader (an average of 13.5 million viewers), and notably surpassing the ten weeks of ‘2 games, 1 night’ under the current NFL rights agreement (2022 – present) and previous Week 1 doubleheaders in the last decade.
FOX Sports Delivers Most-Watched ALCS Game Since 2017
- Up +32% from 2023’s ALCS Game 7 (Rangers vs. Astros; 6,773,000 viewers)
- The Game peaked at 12,349,000 viewers between 10:45-11:00 PM ET
- Most-streamed Championship Series game in FOX Sports history
Men’s College Hockey on ESPN2 Records Best Game Since 2018
The NCAA men’s college hockey season on ESPN continued Friday with Michigan State-Boston University (ESPN2). The matchup delivered the fourth most-watched regular season college hockey game on ESPN networks. This matchup also delivered the best game since 2018.
The NASCAR Cup Series Race Drew 2.556 Million Viewers, Outperforming Formula 1’s Austin Race
Once again, the NASCAR Cup Series topped motorsports for the weekend with the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway drawing 2.556 million viewers per minute on NBC, outperforming the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix (Austin) (1.110 million viewers including pre- and post-race coverage; 1.5 million viewers during race minutes on ABC).
Earlier this year (last time NASCAR and Formula 1 raced on the same day in the U.S), in a less crowded sports landscape, the Würth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway drew 2.56 million viewers on FS1 (cable) – the highest viewership among all racing events, outperforming the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix (1.598 million viewers including pre-race coverage; 2.103 million viewers during race minutes on ABC (broadcast)).
- NASCAR Cup Series: Sunday’s event on NBC earned a 1.43 household rating and an average of 2.6 million viewers per minute, becoming the most-watched Playoff race No. 8 since 2017
- At peak, 3.7 million viewers were tuned in at the conclusion of the race
- Chase Briscoe won the race with a dramatic last lap pass to clinch a spot in the Championship 4
- The race was down YoY vs. Talladega II 2024 (3.127m), but up vs. Talladega II 2023 (2.505m)
- Note: NCS data is based on Nielsen’s Big Data Plus panel and is compared to Preliminary data in prior years
- NASCAR Xfinity Series: With NCAAF competition airing opposite the race on other major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX), Saturday’s event earned a 0.54 household rating on The CW, with an average of 980,000 viewers tuned in per minute, up +25% over 2024 Homestead this same week last year (784,000) and up +7% over 2024 Talladega II which also aired on The CW in October (917,000)
- The race ranked as the No. 1 program of the week on The CW for the 29th time in 31 NXS races this season
- At peak, 1.2 million viewers were tuned in at the conclusion of the race
- Note: NXS data is based on Nielsen’s Big Data Plus panel and is compared to Preliminary data from prior years
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: the event on Friday earned a 0.39 household rating on FOX, with an average of 721,000 viewers tuned in per minute, ranking as the fourth most-watched NCTS race this season to-date
- At peak, 793,000 viewers were tuned in
- Note: NCTS data is based on Nielsen’s Big Data Plus panel and is compared to Preliminary data from prior years
- Formula 1 (Austin): Coverage of Sunday afternoon’s event in Austin, Texas (1:30PM-5PM) earned a 0.55 household rating on ABC with 1.11 million viewers tuned in per minute (1:30PM-5PM, 972,000 viewers). Data includes pre and post-race coverage.
- The race-only window (3PM-4:45PM) averaged 1.5 million viewers per minute
- At peak, 1.6 million viewers were tuned in
- Weekend Motorsports, ranked by audience size:
- NCS (Talladega II): 2.556 million viewers on NBC
- Formula 1 (Austin): 1.110 million viewers on ABC (0.55 household rating 1:30PM-5PM)
- NXS (Talladega II): 980,000 viewers on The CW
- NCTS (Talladega): 721,000 viewers on FOX
NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 – Aired Sunday, October 19th on NBC
- U.S. Rating
- 2025: 1.43 on NBC
- Up +9% over 2024 Homestead (Playoff race #8) on NBC (1.31)
- Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
- 2025: 2,556 on NBC (2.6 million)
- Up +9% over 2024 Homestead (Playoff race #8) on NBC (2.3 million)
NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 250 – Aired Saturday, October 18th on The CW
- U.S. Rating
- 2025: 0.54 on The CW
- Up +26% over 2024 Homestead on The CW (0.43)
- Avg. Viewers (all ages P2+)
- 2025: 980,000 on The CW
- Up +25% over 2024 Homestead on The CW (784,000)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Love’s RV Stop 225 – Aired Friday, October 17th on FOX
- U.S. Rating
- 2025: 0.39 on FOX
- No direct YOY comparison – no races on FOX in ‘24
- Avg. Viewers (all ages P2+)
- 2025: 721,000 on FOX
- No direct YOY comparison – no races on FOX in ‘24
FOX NFL’s America’s Game of the Week Delivers 25,630,000 Average Viewers for Commanders-Cowboys
25,630,000 average viewers watched America’s Game of the Week (AGOTW) featuring the Dallas Cowboys win over the Washington Commanders
- AGOTW was the most-watched telecast of the week on any network
- FOX Sports’ AGOTW currently stands as the #1 program in all of television
- Season-to-date, AGOTW is averaging 26,158,000 viewers; up +2% over last year’s season-to-date average (25,650,000)
- Season-to-date, the NFL on FOX is off to its best start to the season since 2014, averaging 19,646,000 viewers and up +4% over last year’s season-to-date average (18,948,000)
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot Scores Second-Best Final Hour+ Ever; ESPN College Football on ABC Delivers Top Three Games Across All Networks for Saturday, Oct. 18 – Best Start Since ‘09
College GameDay
- 4th most-watched episode ever – Week 8 at Georgia
- 2.7M viewers
- From 9a-Noon ET
- Up 18% over ’24 Week 8 at Texas
- From 9a-Noon ET
- 3.6M viewers
- Final hour+
- Second-best final hour+ EVER
- Beating the competition by 205%
- Second-best final hour+ EVER
- Final hour+
- Full Show peak 3.9M viewers
- Second-highest female audience ever (35%) for a regular season show
- Season-to-date, pacing +28% from ’24, including top seven reg. season shows ever
- 2.7M viewers
ABC Wins the Day, Airs Top 3 Games of Week 8
ESPN Networks off to best start for CFB since 2009 (2.4M average viewers | up 21% YoY)
ESPN Networks score top game in 20 of 24 Saturday windows (noon, late afternoon, prime)
ESPN & ABC deliver 18 of top 20 games in the 2025 season
- Ole Miss v UGA
- 9.8M viewers on ABC
- Peak: 11.3M viewers
- Week 8’s most-watched game across all networks
- ABC’s 7th game of 9M+ viewers
- Tennessee v Alabama
- 8M viewers on ABC
- Peak: 9.1M viewers
- Week 8’s most-watched primetime game
- LSU v Vanderbilt
- 5.9M viewers on ABC
- Peak: 7.9M viewers
- Week 8’s most-watched noon game
- 4th time this season ESPN Networks won the noon window
- Louisville v UMiami
- 3.4M viewers on ESPN
- Peak: 5.1M viewers
- ESPN’s 5th best Friday game in the past decade
ABC’s Telecast of Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix Draws Event’s Largest TV Audience on Record
ABC’s live telecast of Sunday’s Formula 1 United States Grand Prix attracted the largest U.S. television audience on record for the event as an average of 1.5 million viewers tuned in for the race-only portion of the telecast. The audience was up 14 percent over last year’s race viewership, based on Nielsen Big Data + Panel data.
The audience marked the 12th event viewership record set this season in 19 F1 races, with all but two of the 19 experiencing year-over-year audience growth. Viewership peaked at 1.6 million between 4:15-4:30 p.m. as Max Verstappen drove to victory, further tightening up the battle for the F1 driver’s championship with only five races left in the season.
The race telecast, which ran from 3-4:45 p.m. ET, also attracted 539,000 average viewers in the Persons ages 18-49 demographic, an increase of 10 percent over last year’s race.
All but two races this season (Miami, Singapore) have seen year-over-year viewership increases and 12 of the 19 (Australia, China, Monaco, Spain, Canada, Austria, Great Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Azerbaijan, USGP) scored event record audiences.
Across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, F1 races are averaging 1.3 million viewers, ahead of the all-time U.S. television record average of 1.21 million that was set in 2022.
NFL ON CBS Scores the Most-Watched Week 7 Singleheader on Any Network in 10 Years with 17.841 Million Viewers, Up +31% Vs. Last Year
- CBS Sports scored the most-watched Week 7 singleheader on any network since 2015 with 17.841 million viewers, up +31% vs. last year’s comparable window
- NFL on CBS has its best viewership in 10 years with 18.662 million viewers though Week 7, up +4% vs last year
Rogers Delivers Most-Watched Blue Jays Game Ever with ALCS Game 7 on Sportsnet
Game 7 of the American League Championship Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners delivered record-breaking viewership on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, with an average of 6 million Canadians tuning in to watch Canada’s Team punch their ticket to the World Series. The previous high was Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS which averaged 5.1 million viewers.
Game 7 audiences peaked at 8.3 million around 11 p.m. ET when Jeff Hoffman struck out Julio Rodriguez for the game’s final out. Fans tuned in early with an average of 1.9 million watching Sportsnet’s broadcast team tee up history in the Blue Jays Central pregame. Plus, an average of 2.8 million fans stayed tuned into postgame to watch Vladimir Guerrero Jr. get crowned MVP of the series and pop champagne in the clubhouse.
The entire ALCS averaged 4.4 million viewers with 15.9 million Canadians tuning in at some point. Overall, the MLB Postseason on Sportsnet is averaging 1.4 million viewers and has reached 17.4 million Canadians to date.
Game 1 of the World Series is scheduled for Friday, October 24, with Blue Jays Central starting at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet.
TNF on Prime Scores Another Giant Viewership Win
Below, please find additional viewership highlights from Steelers-Bengals and TNF’s 2025 season. Please note that all the below 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.
Steelers-Bengals averaged 15.21M viewers, up +55% over last season’s comparable game (9.81M, Broncos-Saints, 10/17/2024), marking the largest year-over-year increase of the season, and third-largest YoY increase in the history of TNF on Prime.
Thursday’s game attracted a peak audience of 16.92 million viewers between 9:30 and 9:44 PM ET. Thursday’s game on Prime more than doubled the combined audience of the evening’s two MLB postseason LCS games (4.21M, Brewers-Dodgers; 2.96M, Blue Jays-Mariners).
Season-to-date, TNF is averaging 15.63M viewers, its best season on Prime Video, and highest for TNF on any network since 2015.
The six-week average is up +17% vs. last year’s season-to-date average (13.31M), +18% over the 2024 full-season average (13.20M), +32% over the 2023 full-season average (11.86M), and +63% over the 2022 full-season average (9.58M).
Through six weeks, TNF on Prime is delivering double-digit gains across every major demographic:
Within the P18-34 demo, TNF is averaging 3.15M viewers, up +20% vs. last year’s full-season average (2.61M).
TNF on Prime currently holds the highest P18-34 season-to-date average among all NFL full-season packages.
Within the P18-49 demo, TNF is averaging 7.34M viewers, up +23% vs. last year’s full-season average (5.99M).
Within the P25-54 demo, TNF is averaging 7.94M viewers, up +21% vs. last year’s full-season average (6.58M).
Season-to-date, TNF on Prime’s median age is 48.0, which is nearly eight years younger than audiences watching the NFL on linear networks (55.6). TNF on Prime’s postgame show, TNF Nightcap, averaged 3.01M viewers on Thursday, marking its second most-watched episode ever.
This year, Nightcap is averaging 2.90M, up +42% over last year’s full-season average (2.04M), and +57% 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, averaged 1.82M viewers on Thursday, and is averaging 1.76M season-to-date.
This year, TNF Tonight is up +15% over last year’s full-season average (1.53M), and +26% over the 2023 full-season average (1.39M).
