The NBA topped the sports ratings charts on a busy Saturday, May 18th, when no games were originally scheduled.
Saturday's Game 6 of the second round of the NBA playoffs between the Thunder and Mavericks was the day's biggest sports viewer, averaging a series-high 2.9 and 5.6 million viewers. The game was moved from ESPN to ABC at the last minute when the network's planned seventh NHL game between the Hurricanes and Rangers did not materialize.
The NBA doesn't usually schedule games on a Saturday in the final week of the second round, but the Knicks-Pacers series Caitlin ClarkThe WNBA Opening Day — Thunder vs. Mavericks game has been postponed overnight. Check this page for details on where to watch the NBA playoffs this weekend, including Sunday's two Game 7 games.
The race portion of the Preakness Stakes averaged 2.8 million viewers and 5.3 million viewers on NBC, making it the largest viewership for the second leg of the Triple Crown race in three years. (2021: 7.01 million people). Viewer ratings remained flat, and the number of viewers increased by 1% compared to last year (2.8 million and 5.02 million).
The third round of the PGA Championship posted 2.0 million and 3.52 million on CBS for a proper third place. This is an increase of 4% and 9% from last year (2 million and 3.22 million), respectively, with advance coverage on ESPN of 0.7 (-6%) and 1.21 million (+2%). For more information on PGA Championship ratings, please see this link.
Rounding out the day's top five were ABC's WNBA regular season doubleheader, Fever vs. Liberty, which averaged 1.1 million and 1.71 million viewers, and Sparks vs. Aces, which averaged 800,000 viewers. At 1.34 million viewers, it was two of the three largest WNBA viewers in network history. The Fever-Liberty game, the third game of Caitlin Clark's career, was the most-watched WNBA game since 2002, second only to Clark's professional debut last Tuesday. For more information on WNBA numbers, see this article.
Further down, Liga MX topped the soccer charts with Univision's Club América-Guadalajara at 0.6 million and 1.34 million. The domestic leagues have fallen further behind, with FOX leading the MLS with a score of 0.14 and 220,000 for Nashville vs. Atlanta, and ION leading the NWSL with a score of 0.12 and 168,000 for Angel City vs. Washington.
Due to the rainy weather, FOX only had one Major League Baseball game on Saturday night, with attendance for the Angels vs. Rangers at just 600,000 and 1.1 million. In softball, Kentucky-Oklahoma State led the NCAA division with a 0.32 and 551,000 points on ESPN, followed by Oklahoma and Oregon State with a 0.30 and 522,000 points.
Moving on to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Game 6 between the Canucks and the Oilers drew 0.53 million, 1.01 million on ESPN, which was about half that from last year's Kraken vs. Stars (1.0, 2.04 million). That led to a 0.33 and 565,000 for Top Rank Boxing.
Elsewhere, NBC drew a 0.55 and 846,000 for the LA Grand Prix at the track. The UFL topped the charts with Memphis vs. Michigan on FOX at 0.39 and 673,000, while ESPN2 drew a 0.16 and 254,000 for Houston vs. Birmingham later that night. ESPN2 also drew a 0.33 and 589,000 for F1 qualifying, which was preceded by a practice session at 0.14 and 221,000.
Gymnastics US Classic, Special Feature Simone Biles and Gabby DouglasCNBC had a score of 0.18 and 296,000 points, down from last year (0.18 and 318,000 points), which was held in August and marked Biles' return to competition.
Sports ratings for Saturday, May 18th
