The following charts list the top sporting events of 2020 in each sport and on each network. [Click here to jump straight to the main list and here for the list with the NFL excluded.]
Most-watched events by sport
SportsMediaWatch.com | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
SPORT | GAME | RTG | VWRS | NET |
NFL | Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl |
41.6 | 100.45M | FOX |
CFB | LSU-Clemson National Championship |
14.3 | 25.59M | ESPN |
MLB | Rays-Dodgers World Series Game 6 |
6.8 | 12.70M | FOX |
Horse | Kentucky Derby Race segment |
4.8 | 9.26M | NBC |
NBA | Heat-Lakers NBA Finals Game 5 |
4.8 | 8.96M | ABC |
NASCAR | Daytona 500 | 4.4 | 7.33M | FOX |
Golf | “The Match II” Tiger/Peyton v. Phil/Brady |
3.5 | 5.67M | Turner* |
IndyCar | Indianapolis 500 | 2.3 | 3.67M | NBC |
XFL | Tampa Bay-New York Week one |
2.1 | 3.39M | FOX |
NHL | Islanders-Flyers Semifinals Game 7 |
1.4 | 2.96M | NBC |
CBB | Duke-UNC Regular season |
1.6 | 2.67M | ESPN |
Soccer | América-Chivas Liga MX quarterfinal |
— | 2.50M | UNI, TUDN |
Figure Skating |
Women’s free skate U.S. Fig. Skt. Champ. |
1.6 | 2.39M | NBC |
Tennis | Osaka-Azarenka US Open women’s final |
1.3 | 2.15M | ESPN |
Boxing | Crawford-Brook; Franco-Moloney Top Rank Boxing |
1.0 | 1.76M | ESPN |
UFC | UFC 246 prelims | 1.1 | 1.77M | ESPN |
EPL | Manchester Derby (March) | — | 1.76M | NBC, TELE (incl. dgtl) |
MLS | Columbus-Seattle MLS Cup |
— | 1.53M | FOX, UniMás |
eSports | NASCAR iRacing Texas |
0.8 | 1.34M | FOX |
LPGA | Women’s British Open Final round |
0.64 | 886K | NBC |
F1 | Austrian GP | 0.48 | 752K | ESPN |
NWSL | Houston-Chicago Challenge Cup Final |
0.44 | 653K | CBS |
WCBB | Tennessee-UConn Regular season |
0.43 | 630K | ESPN |
WNBA | Wings-Mercury Regular season |
0.43 | 599K | ABC |
* Turner Sports broadcast of “The Match II” aired on TNT, TBS, TruTV and HLN.
Most-watched events by network
SportsMediaWatch.com | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
NET | SPORT | GAME | RTG | VWRS |
FOX | NFL | Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl |
41.6 | 100.45M |
CBS | NFL | Titans-Chiefs AFC Championship |
23.1 | 41.11M |
NBC | NFL | Seahawks-Eagles NFC Wild Card |
19.2 | 35.12M |
ESPN | CFB | LSU-Clemson National Championship |
14.3 | 25.59M |
ABC | NFL | Bills-Texans AFC Wild Card (not incl. ESPN simulcast) |
10.5 | 18.13M |
Turner Sports |
NBA | NBA All-Star Game | 4.1 | 7.28M |
NFL Network |
NFL | Bengals-Browns Week 2 TNF |
3.8 | 6.68M |
FS1 | MLB | Braves-Dodgers NLCS Game 6 |
2.15 | 4.28M |
NBCSN | Auto | Texas NASCAR Cup Series |
1.7 | 2.73M |
MLB Network |
MLB | Padres-Dodgers NLDS Game 3 |
0.65 | 1.17M |
Golf Channel |
Golf | Pebble Beach Final round lead-in |
0.8 | 1.14M |
NBA TV | NBA | Pelicans-Warriors Regular season (2/23) |
0.30 | 474K |
Thanks again, Doc!
It’s strange that some episodes of The Last Dance got more viewers on ESPN than the game 3 of the NBA finals on ABC.