U.S.

TV Viewership of Major
Sporting Events
Penaflorida, Subo, Tacurda, Uygen, Velasco

The Patriot News (www.pennlive.com)

summarized the TV ratings of the major sporting
events watched by the American audience from
October 2013-June 2014.

The major sporting events taken into account

were:
National Football League (NFL)
Bowl Championship Series (BCS)
FIFA World Cup
NCAA Basketball
NBA Finals
World Series
National Hockey League (NHL)

The ratings on U.S. cable and broadcast outlets of thirteen sporting events
were taken into account. Ratings on cell phone, laptop, and pad streaming were not
included, since these, as yet, are not logged by any independent ratings company.
The top 4 most watched sporting events in America come from the National

Football League. Among the four, the most watched event is the Super Bowl (112.2
million), followed by the conference title games (53.7 million), wildcard playoffs (34.7
million), and the divisional playoffs (34.3 million). The next five spots are occupied by
the BCS title game (25.6 million), the World Cup match between USA and Portugal
(24.7 million), the title game of NCAA basketball (21.2 million), the World Cup match
between USA and Ghana (15.9 milllion), and the NBA Finals (15.6 million). The World
Series is third to the last, with a total of 14.9 million viewers, followed by the World

Cup match between USA and Germany (14.2 million). According to the data, the least
watched major sporting event is the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, with a total viewership of
5.0 million.

Table 1
American TV Viewership of Major Sporting Events
Sporting Event
NFL Super Bowl
NFL Conference Title Games

TV Viewership (in millions)

112.2
53.7

NFL Wildcard Playoffs

34.7**

NFL Divisional Playoffs

34.3**

BCS Title Game

25.6

USA-Portugal World Cup

24.7

NCAA Basketball Title Game

21.2

USA-Ghana World Cup

15.9

NBA Finals

15.6*

World Series

14.9*

USA-Germany World Cup

14.2

NHL Stanley Cup Finals

5.0*

*Averages of multi-game series

**Averages of multi-game weekend schedules
Source of data: Jones, D. (2014 June 30). What World Cup ratings mean to future of American
soccer and its tech-savvy young fan base. Retrieved from
http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/06/what_world_cup_ratings_mean_to.htm
l (2014 July 2)

Sporting Event

NHL Stanley Cup Finals

USA-Germany World Cup
World Series
NBA Finals
USA-Ghana World Cup
NCAA Basketball Title Game
USA-Portugal World Cup
NFL Divisional Playoffs
NFL Wildcard Playoffs
NFL Conference Title Games
NFL Super Bowl

TV
Viewership
Column1

20

40
60
80
TV Viewership
(in millions)
Figure 3. American TV Viewership of Major Sporting Events

100

120

Source of data: Jones, D. (2014 June 30). What World Cup ratings mean to future of American soccer and its tech-savvy young fan
base. Retrieved from http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/06/what_world_cup_ratings_mean_to.html (2014 July 2)