The ratings roundup is back, this time featuring ratings increases for NASCAR's Iowa debut and the U.S. Olympic Trials, plus NWSL near season highs.
NASCAR's Iowa debut ups the ante from first U.S. race last season
The NASCAR Cup Series' first race of the season, broadcast in Iowa on Sunday, was the first of the season on NBC Sports Network and averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.7 million viewers on USA Network. While that was down slightly in viewership, it was still 5% higher than last season's USA premiere broadcast in Atlanta in July (1.5, 2.56 million). (NBC's first race of the season, broadcast in Nashville, aired on its own network and drew 1.8 million viewers and 3.21 million viewers.)
The race drew the largest viewership for a Cup Series race on cable television this season, surpassing the previous record set by Darlington on FS1.
Olympic Trials off to a better start than '21
The first three nights of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials averaged 3.13 million viewers on NBC (including additional streaming viewers not tracked by Nielsen), up 17% from 2021. As expected, the numbers are well below pre-COVID-19 levels from 2016. The first two nights of 2016 (when competition began on a Sunday) averaged 5.2 million and 4.5 million viewers, respectively. The first night of the diving trials averaged 2.74 million viewers, up 42%.
NWSL nears record season high
Sunday's NWSL game between Seattle and Portland averaged 553,000 viewers on CBS, besting only ABC's season opener between Portland and Kansas City (614,000) this season. The game was the final game of a three-game women's sports series on CBS that began with a SkyFever WNBA game that drew 2.25 million viewers. (CBS)
