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, ABC secures another most-watched WNBA game ever with Indiana Fever vs Chicago Sky; NBA Summer League is up more than 25% compared to last year’s viewership; and more.
NASCAR Cup Series Race on TNT & TruTV Averaged 2.5 Million Viewers
NASCAR Cup Series: Sunday’s final leg of the inaugural In-Season Challenge earned a 1.24 household rating across TNT & TruTV with an average of 2.5 million viewers per minute, ranking NASCAR as the #1 sport of the week on television overall. It was TNT’s most-watched race.
No direct YOY comparison (2024 on NBC), but the 2.5 million average viewers is the most for any Cup Series race since Charlotte in May on Prime Video (2.6 million) and up +12% over the 2024 NCS cable race average (2.2 million)
TNT averaged 2.3 million viewers per minute, ranking as the #1 sports telecast of the week across all linear television
The TruTV Alt-Cast averaged 169,000 viewers per minute and accounted for 7% of the total linear audience
With four laps remaining, the race was briefly impacted by weather and delayed for approx. 20 minutes between 5P-5:30P
The conclusion involved a pair of overtime restarts before Bubba Wallace took the checkered flag, snapping his 100-race winless streak
At peak, 3.1 million viewers were tuned in from 5:30P-5:45P for the overtime restarts
Share was up 45% vs. 2024 NASCAR Cup Series cable average
P18-34 for Sunday’s race was up 96% vs. the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series cable average
Saturday’s NCS Practice & Qualifying on TruTV averaged 148,000 viewers per minute
Friday’s P&Q window was rained out – the telecast window still averaged 80k viewers on TruTV
Linear viewership information does not include streaming viewership via HBO MAX (which is not Nielsen-rated) or TNT Sports’ authenticated connected apps
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Saturday’s event earned a 0.61 household rating on The CW with an average of 1.1 million viewers tuned in per minute
The race ranked as the #1 program of the week on The CW for the 20th of 21 NXS races this season
At peak, 1.3 million viewers were tuned in for the conclusion of the race
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Friday’s event earned a 0.19 household rating on FS1 with an average of 341,000 viewers tuned in per minute
Ranked as the #1 sports event of the week on FS1
At peak, 378,000 viewers were tuned in
Weekend Motorsports, ranked by audience size:
NCS (Indy Oval): 2.449 million viewers on TNT & TruTV
NXS (Indy Oval): 1.108 million viewers on The CW
Formula 1 (Belgium): 1.076 million viewers on ESPN
IndyCar (Laguna Seca): 734,000 viewers on FOX
NHRA (Sonoma): 498,000 viewers on FOX (Saturday)
NCTS (LOIRP): 341,000 viewers on FS1
NHRA (Sonoma): 277,000 viewers on FS1 (Sunday opposite NCS Indianapolis)
ARCA (LOIRP): 125,000 viewers on FS1
NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 – Aired Sunday, July 27th on TNT & TruTV
U.S. Rating
2025: 1.24 on TNT & TruTV
No direct YOY comparison; Up +6% over 2024 NCS cable race average (1.17)
Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
2025: 2,449 (2.5 million)
No direct YOY comparison; Up +12% over 2024 NCS cable race average (2.2 million)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 – Aired Saturday, July 26th on The CW
U.S. Rating
2025: 0.61 on The CW
Down -6% versus 2024 Indianapolis on USA (0.65)
Avg. Viewers (all ages P2+)
2025: 1,108 (1.1 million)
Down -1% versus 2024 Indianapolis on USA (1.15 million)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series TSport 200 – Aired Friday, July 25th on FS1
U.S. Rating
2025: 0.19 on FS1
Down -21% versus 2024 LOIRP on FS1 (0.24)
Avg. Viewers (all ages P2+)
2025: 341,000
Down -21% versus 2024 LOIRP on FS1 (432,000)
TNT END-OF-SEASON
Through five races, NASCAR on TNT Sports averaged 2.1 million viewers
P18-34 audience average for TNT Sports’ races were up 48% vs. the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series cable average
Share was up 20% vs. the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series cable average
Average race viewership grew 52% from TNT Sports’ first race in Atlanta to its final race in Indianapolis
Bleacher Report elevated TNT Sports’ coverage of NASCAR and helped bring a new generation of motorsports content to fans across its social platforms:
100 million views across its NASCAR content in TNT Sports five race weekends
Included B/R Racing launching a new show Taking Laps with Dale Earnhardt Jr., where Dale Jr. welcomed a celebrity guest onto the racetrack and had a conversation while hitting top speeds. Guests included NBA legend Dwight Howard and New York Giants star receiver Malik Nabers.
73% of Bleacher Report’s and House of Highlights’ audience is under 34 years old
ABC Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever
Indiana Fever vs Chicago Sky matchup on July 27
6th most-watched regular season game on ABC ever
4th most-watched regular season game on ABC this season-to-date
WNBA Countdown (averaging 684K viewers on ABC this season)
Up 9% vs. last year’s ABC regular season average
1.5M average viewers
Up 17% vs. last year’s ABC regular season average
Season-to-date: WNBA across ESPN platforms up 6% from last season
Baseball Night in America on FOX Featuring Dodgers-Red Sox Scores 2.02M Viewers
2.02 million viewers tuned in for Saturday’s two-game Baseball Night in America slate on FOX, highlighted by a 4-2 Red Sox win over the Dodgers at Fenway Park.
Up +7% over last year’s average of 1.88 million viewers for regular season MLB telecasts on FOX.
Second Annual NFL Flag Championships Reached 7.7 Million Fans Across ESPN, ABC, Disney and NFL Platforms
The NFL Flag Championships reached 7.7 million fans across 22 linear games throughout three days (July 18-20) of coverage on ESPN, ABC, Disney and NFL platforms. The second annual event, which reached 65% more fans than the inaugural event in 2024, showcased games from three specific groups of elite youth flag football players – the girls high school division, boys 14 under division and the international division.
Please note: the reach number is comprised of metrics from the linear broadcasts which were also available on digital platforms. The 7.7 million fans do not account for metrics from the 11 games exclusively on digital platforms.
After coverage of multiple rounds of games which started with the round of 16 on Friday, the girls high school division and boys 14U division tournaments culminated on Championship Sunday with stellar play and excitement.
On ABC, Disney, ESPN and NFL platforms, the girls’ and boys’ championship games’ broadcast window (4-6 p.m. ET) averaged 619,000 viewers, with the boys’ game averaging 464,000 viewers (4-5 p.m.) leading into the girls’ game which averaged 766,000 viewers (5-6 p.m.). The audience peaked in the final quarter hour of the broadcast window (5:45-6 p.m.), averaging 878,000 viewers.
Across ESPN’s social platforms, the tournament experienced triple-digit growth in two key areas over the three days of competition:
Total Engagements: 3.3 million (up +198%)
Total Video Views: 40.3 million (up +148%)
All social metrics are compared to the 2024 inaugural event.
Over the course of the four-day event, 25,000 fans attended the NFL Flag Championships.
ESPN, Disney, and NFL’s Coverage of the NFL Flag Championships
Over the three action-packed days, which drew nearly 3,000 youth participants, ESPN delivered more than 33 hours of coverage, which aired and streamed across 11 platforms including ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+, Disney+, Disney XD, Disney Channel, ESPN Deportes, NFL+, NFL Network and ESPN YouTube channels.
Reach is defined by the total number of viewers who sampled the product for at least one minute throughout the event. In 2025, ESPN broadcasted 22 games on linear vs. 18 in 2024.
The NASCAR Cup Series Race Earned Sees 2.0 million Average Viewers
NASCAR Cup Series: Sunday’s weather-impacted event earned a 1.07 household rating across TNT & TruTV with an average of 2.0 million viewers tuned in per minute, ranking NASCAR the #1 sports event telecast of the weekend on cable television, and #2 for the week overall behind only Monday’s MLB Home Run Derby on ESPN
Additionally, the race telecast ranked as the #2 sports event Sunday behind only the Open Championship (golf) on NBC
Note: the race was impacted by weather and delayed nearly an hour on lap 387. The conclusion involved a pair of overtime restarts before Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag for the fourth time this season
At peak, 2.5 million viewers were tuned in just prior to the weather delay
Viewership dropped 27% during the 56-minute weather delay
Viewership increased 48% from the start of the race until the weather delay
No direct YOY comparison, but viewership was up +25% over NCS Atlanta II, which also featured a mid-race rain delay and aired on TNT & TruTV (1.6 million)
TNT averaged 1.87 million viewers, in line with Chicago Street race two weeks prior (1.88 million)
The TruTV Alt-Cast averaged 137,000 viewers per minute and accounted for 7% of the total linear audience
Saturday’s NCS Practice & Qualifying on TruTV averaged 180,000 viewers per minute
Linear viewership information does not include streaming viewership via HBO MAX (which is not Nielsen-rated) or TNT Sports’ authenticated connected apps
Despite the rain, continued strong growth of P18-34 demo, with Sunday’s race up double digits (up 11%) vs. last year’s NASCAR Cup Series average on cable
Bleacher Report/House of Highlights (social):
Generated 89 million views of NASCAR Cup Series content across Bleacher Report and HoH social platforms through four weeks of TNT Sports’ live race coverage
73% of Bleacher Report’s and House of Highlights’ audience is under 34 years old
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Saturday’s weather-impacted event earned a 0.58 rating on The CW with an average of 1.0 million viewers tuned in per minute
The race was impacted by weather and called after 134 of 200 scheduled laps were complete
At peak, 1.1 million viewers were tuned in 5:30P-5:45P prior to the weather
The CW continued coverage from Dover following the delay and as the race was ruled official from 6:15P-7P (832,000 average viewers per minute)
Viewership from 6:15P-7P is not included in the 1.0 million average race viewers
The race ranked as the #1 program of the week on The CW for the 19th of 20 NXS races this season
Weekend Motorsports, ranked by audience size:
NCS (Dover): 2.009 million viewers on TNT & TruTV (weather-impacted)
NXS (Dover): 1.047 million viewers on The CW (weather-impacted)
Motocross (Washougal): 776,000 viewers on NBC (OPEN Championship golf as lead-in)
IndyCar (Toronto): 734,000 viewers on FOX
NHRA (Seattle): 673,000 viewers on FOX
ARCA (Dover): 132,000 viewers on FS1
NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 – Aired Sunday, July 20th on TNT & TruTV
Note: Race was impacted by weather and delayed nearly an hour on lap 387
U.S. Rating
2025: 1.07 on TNT & TruTV
No direct YOY comparison
Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2+)
2025: 2,009 (2.0 million)
No direct YOY comparison
NASCAR Xfinity Series BetRivers 200 – Aired Saturday, July 19th on The CW
Note: Race was shortened by weather on lap 134 of 200
U.S. Rating
2025: 0.58 on The CW
No direct YOY comparison
Avg. Viewers (all ages P2+)
2025: 1,047 (1.0 million)
No direct YOY comparison
ESPN, ABC and Disney+ Score Historic Viewership for 2025 WNBA All-Star Events
Friday, July 18
ESPN airs most-watched WNBA skills and 3-point contest ever
1.3M average viewers
Up 89% vs. last year’s WNBA Skills and 3-Point Contest
Most-viewed program across all of TV in primetime among people under 35, adults 18-34 and females 18-34
Saturday, July 19
2025 WNBA All-Star Game was the most-watched program of the night across all of TV
2.2M average viewers
Up 158% vs. 2023 WNBA All-Star Game
Second most-watched WNBA All-Star Game ever (behind 2024)
2025 NBA Las Vegas Summer League Viewership Up Double Digits
Average audience: 255K viewers
+27% vs. 2024 Las Vegas Summer League average
Championship game (Sacramento x Charlotte, 7/20/25): 420K viewers
+3% vs. 2024 Las Vegas Summer League Championship Game
NBC Sports’ Coverage of 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush is Most-Washed Since 2022, and up 16% From Last Year
NBC Sports’ presentation of The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland – featuring Scottie Scheffler’s first ever Open win – ranks as the most-watched Open since the milestone 150th Open at St Andrews in 2022, with double-digit percent viewership gains across its coverage on NBC, USA Network, and Peacock.
Sunday’s final round coverage on NBC and Peacock (9:02 a.m. – 1:51 p.m. ET) produced a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 4.1 million viewers, up 21% vs. 2024, according to data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. Viewership peaked at more than 6.1 million viewers in the 1:30-1:45 p.m. ET quarter hour, as Rory McIlroy concluded his round and Scottie Scheffler closed out his first-ever Open title, defeating Harris English by four shots.
Weekend coverage on NBC and Peacock averaged 3.6 million viewers, up 24% from the comparable windows in 2024. The Saturday/Sunday windows were television’s most-watched sports telecasts of the weekend.
Thursday and Friday early-round coverage on USA Network averaged of more than 1 million viewers, up 18% vs. 2024, also ranking as the most-watched early-round coverage of The Open since 2022, which featured Tiger Woods in the field.
Overall, four-day coverage of The Open averaged more than 2 million viewers on NBC and USA Network, up 16% vs. 2024, and best since 2022.
The 2025 Open Championship also delivered viewership milestones for Peacock. Saturday and Sunday’s simulstreams of NBC’s coverage rank as Peacock’s two most-watched Open Championship windows on record. Overall total minutes streamed on Peacock and NBC Sports Digital were up 13% vs. 2024.
Pro League Network Surges Past 1M Live Views with Friday Night Fights from the AMP Summer House
Friday Night Fights, the flagship combat series from Pro League Network (PLN), hit a major milestone last week with its SlapFIGHT Championship 46: Gold Rush event, streamed live from the AMP Summer House. AMP—a wildly popular content collective featuring top creators like Kai Cenat, ImDavisss, Agent00, Fanum, and Duke Dennis—served as both the broadcast backdrop and an active co-hosting force for the event, helping drive over 1 million live views, 45,000+ peak concurrent viewers, and 100,000+ real-time fan engagements, placing it alongside the most-watched sports streams of the year and outperforming many traditional live sports broadcasts.
Distributed live across AMP’s ImDavisss’ Twitch channel the broadcast ranked among the top five English-language Twitch streams of the day and became one of AMP’s highest-performing Summer House broadcasts to date. Compared to competing combat sports on the same day, SlapFIGHT tripled the audience and exceeded viewership levels typically seen on major cable networks.
But it wasn’t just reach—it was co-creation. The broadcast was built in collaboration with top-tier creators who shaped both the tone and narrative of the night. PLN host JT Tilley was joined on commentary by MoistCr1TiKaL, one of the most respected personalities in streaming and gaming culture. His presence brought editorial weight and cultural relevance to the stream, drawing in crossover audiences and elevating the action with his trademark dry, incisive delivery.
The AMP crew added real-time energy and personality: Kai Cenat interviewed fight winners live on stream, while Agent00 captured immediate reactions from the losing fighters—creating a post-fight experience that felt emotional, spontaneous, and fan-driven. Meanwhile, Joe Bartolozzi co-streamed the card with his own commentary and audience engagement, helping drive over 55,000 live chat comments —a level of interaction rarely seen in traditional sports.
Bartolozzi will appear live on set for Friday Night Fights on August 8 at PLN Studios, further cementing his role as one of the network’s most dynamic creator collaborators.
In a surprise post-fight segment, Kai Cenat and ImDavisss extended the action by stepping into PLN’s viral CarJitsu Championship—demonstrating PLN’s creator-first format strategy, where stars don’t just react to the action—they become part of it.
“We showed over a million viewers what PLN is all about on Friday—live, high-intensity, made-for-digital sports built for the
creator economy,” says PLN co-founders Bill Yucatonis and Mike Salvaris. “You could feel the energy from the AMP community. Seeing these creators not just promote but shape the show—and watching viewership rival traditional sports broadcasts with a much younger audience—is a clear signal that this model works and is built to scale.”
In addition to streaming on Twitch and YouTube, SlapFIGHT 46 was distributed across connected TV and FAST platforms including Stadium, FuboTV, Bally Sports, and Fight Network, reinforcing PLN’s multi-platform reach.
The event is part of PLN’s 10-week summer Friday Night Fights series—an evolving lineup of combat formats that includes CarJitsu, Coffin Wars, Chest Chop, and Ultimate Tire Wrestling. Each sport is owned and operated by PLN and designed specifically for creator integration, real-time reaction, and mass social engagement.
ESPN’s Outstanding Nielsen Viewership for First Six Months of 2025: At the Halfway Mark, ESPN has Achieved Multiple Successes Across the Board
At the halfway mark of Nielsen’s 2025 calendar year, ESPN is delivering significant viewership successes. In addition to leading amongst all Nielsen-rated networks, ESPN is experiencing its highest levels of viewership since at least 2016 in multiple areas, including ‘ESPN + Sports on ABC’.
ESPN has Increased its Own Audience Year-Over-Year… Any Way You Slice It
Measuring against its own audience, Nielsen reported ESPN has increased its viewership throughout the first half of 2025 from the same point in 2024. ESPN on its own is up 4% year-over-year across the entire day (24 hours of programming) and up 9% when isolating the primetime hours (8-11 p.m. ET). When adding ‘Sports on ABC’ with ESPN’s all-day programming, ESPN has increased its viewership by 1% compared to the first half of 2024.
All three categories are among the highest audiences for ESPN in recent years, including more than a decade in Prime Time:
ESPN & Sports on ABC: Most-watched first half of the year since 2016, with more than 254 billion minutes consumed.
ESPN: Second best average-minute-audience since 2017 at the year’s halfway point, with the primary network averaging 712,000 viewers for every minute across 183 days.
ESPN Prime Time: Best since 2014, with the primary network averaging 1.9 million viewers during the 183 nights.
ESPN’s Nielsen-Rated Platforms Approaching 300 Billion Minutes Watched; ESPN Alone Encroaching on 200 Billion Minutes
Adding in all of ESPN’s Nielsen-rated platforms, fans have combined for nearly 300 billion minutes watched, the most of all Nielsen’s nationally measured sports viewership channels in 2025. ESPN alone accounts for 187 billion minutes, the most sports content consumed by any single network across all Nielsen nationally measured platforms.
ESPN’s Digital and Social Remains No. 1 Per Comscore Data
ESPN’s strong television viewership is in addition to its continued digital successes. According to the latest available Comscore data, ESPN Digital & Social was again No. 1 in the U.S. Sports Category with 175.1 million unique users, up 5% year-over-year and reaching 63% of the U.S. adult population across digital, YouTube and social media platforms, according to recently released Comscore data. Additional successes in the same month:
The ESPN App remained No. 1 in May, reaching 27.0 million unique users, up 16% year-over-year, more than the next nine non-ESPN apps combined and eight times its nearest competitor in the Mobile Sports App category.
ESPN.com was No. 1 across the web in May with 55.8 million unique visitors and 1.7 billion minutes, up 27% year-over-year.
For the 47th month in a row ESPN Social was No. 1 among sports properties, reaching 768 million engagements in May, nearly 25 million per day.
ESPN’s strong Nielsen viewership momentum across linear and digital in the first half of 2025 underscores its strength and sets the stage for the launch of its direct-to-consumer service and enhanced ESPN App this fall – bringing all of ESPN, all in one place, directly to fans.
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