Sports Viewership Statistics Reveal the Relationship Between TV and Sports

May 21, 2021
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The television takes the central place in the modern home. The emergence of cable television in the late 1940s was a major contributor to this fact, as more content meant more reasons for people to stay glued to their TV sets. By the 1980s, cable TV became a widespread phenomenon, and TV viewership skyrocketed toward the end of the decade.

One major allure of cable television was the availability of sporting content. Millions of people could tune in to watch their favorite sports from the comfort of their homes. Today’s sports viewership statistics operate with truly astronomical numbers. Let’s take a look at the data to understand the relationship between television and sports.

Sports Average Viewership Statistics: Editor’s Choice

  • A record 15.6 million people tuned in to watch the first day of the 2020 NFL draft.
  • 39% of fans watch sports via streaming services; 41% of this number via YouTube TV.
  • The viewership for the 2020 World Series was the lowest in American baseball history, setting the record for the least-watched series in the sport’s history.
  • English Premier League viewership on Sky Sports was up by 21% in 2019.
  • While streaming services have undoubtedly caused a decline in sports viewership statistics, 35% of sports fans cited concerns over the pandemic as the main reason for their diminished interest in watching sports events.
  • About 27% of survey respondents in the US in 2020 claimed they watched live sports on television at least once a week.
  • 47% of sports fans watch sports via cable television.

Viewer Demographics

1. A record 15.6 million people tuned in to watch the first day of the 2020 NFL draft.

(CNBC)

Unsurprisingly, football is the biggest sport in the US. In 2020, a record audience number tuned in to watch the NFL draft, where teams recruit new players from the college leagues. It shattered previous draft football viewership statistics, with the previous record being 2014’s 12.4 million. Ratings were also up 37% from 2019.

The event would eventually go on to reach a record 55 million watchers over the course of three days. In the second and third days of the event, viewership saw a 40% and 32% increase from the previous year. These numbers provided the best sports TV ratings of 2020.

2. 47% of sports fans watch sports via cable television.

(FluentPulse)

In a survey detailing the means through which sports fans watch their favorite sports, cable television led the poll. Sports television viewership statistics outranked other means such as streaming services, even though general television subscriptions had faced a decline in recent times.

3. About 27% of surveyed viewers in the US in 2020 watched live sports on television at least once a week.

(Statista)

In a survey designed to check the frequency of watching live sport on television in the United States, 27% of 2,200 respondents said they watched live sports through the television at least once a week.

4. 39% of fans watch sports via streaming services, with 41% of this number watching through YouTube TV.

(FluentPulse)

Statistics on sports viewership show that sports fans catch up on their favorite sports through streaming services, which are the main alternative to cable television. 41% of fans streamed sports through Youtube TV, 13% used Hulu, 23% used ESPN, and another 23% used other streaming services.

5. 35% of sports fans cited concerns over the pandemic as the reason for watching fewer live sports broadcasts.

(MaristPoll)

While streaming services have surely caused a decline in live sports broadcasts viewership, there are other factors to be considered, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. 35% (approximately one in three) of respondents in a Marist poll cited the pandemic as the reason for their lack of interest in watching live sports broadcasts.

Sports Viewership Statistics by Sport

6. NBC’s PGA Tour viewership increased by 30% in 2021.

(Sportspromedia)

NBC’s coverage of the 2021 PGA Golf Tour has seen an increase of 30%. Eight out of ten golfing events on the broadcasting giant have already experienced increased audiences.

7. The 2020 World Series set the record for the least-watched series in the history of baseball.

(Forbes)

The Stanley Cup has always been a major sporting event, drawing in tens of millions yearly. However, the 2020 World Series not only saw a diminished audience but set a record for being the least-watched World Series in baseball’s long history.

8. The most-viewed sports event in the world of cricket was the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

(Sportspromedia)

The 2019 Cricket World Cup holds the record for the most-watched International Cricket Council’s event, with a total audience of 1.6 billion viewers. This number can be ascribed to the ICC’s plan to make the World Cup the most accessible in history, and we can very well say that the plan worked, with a 38% increase from 2015, the previous record year. The most-watched match globally was between India and Pakistan, drawing in 273 million viewers.

The semifinal live stream of India vs. New Zealand also holds the record for the highest concurrent viewership for live sports streaming of all time.

9. Sports viewership statistics for Formula 1’s first three 2020 races saw the sport draw 13.63 million viewers from the UK.

(Sportspromedia)

Four million eight hundred thousand British viewers watched the Formula 1 season return in 2020 after COVID-19 suspension. This was the highest UK viewership for a Grand Prix event held at the Red Bull Ring in five years.

10. English Premier League viewership on Sky Sports was up by 21% in 2019.

(Sportspromedia)

Sky Sports reported a year-on-year increase in its viewing figures of 21% for the top division of English football, the Premier League. The fixture between Liverpool and Manchester City also pulled numbers. Sports average viewership statistics for the match indicated it was the third most watched Premier League broadcast on the network with an average viewership of 3.36 million.

By 2020, the network reported a decline in viewership, however, citing disinterest in games outside of the top teams’ fixtures as a major cause.

11. Viewership for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game fell by 18% to 5.94 million.

(Sportspromedia)

Despite being the highest-rated broadcast of the current season, the 2021 NBA All-Star Game was the least-watched All-Star game in 31 years. A total of 5.94 million viewers watched the event.

College Sports Viewership Statistics

12. March Madness drew a TV audience of 10.5 million in 2019.

(Statista)

March Madness marks the start of the college basketball tournament. It’s one of the most popular sports events in the US. In 2019, the tourney had a viewership of 10.5 million. The Virginia and Texas Tech 2019 championship final was watched by 19.6 million viewers.

13. Ratings for the National Championship game on ESPN tumble.

(Sportspromedia)

The Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Ohio State Buckeyes game became the lowest-rated game in college football ever since a college football champion was decided with a year-end game in 23 years. The match attracted 18.7 million viewers.

Esports Viewership vs. Sports

14. Esports events drew 436 million viewers worldwide in 2020.

(Statista)

Esports may be a relatively new phenomenon, but it pulled in numbers out of this world and is expected to bring in even more in coming years. In fact, the esports audience is expected to grow to 577.2 million viewers by 2024.

Sources:

CNBC Fluent Forbes MaristPoll Roundhill Investments SportsPro Statista

FAQ

Which sport has the biggest viewership?

With more than half of the world considering it their favorite sport, soccer is the sport with the biggest viewership globally. According to sports viewership statistics, soccer draws more viewers than any other sport. Audience data from FIFA for the 2018 FIFA World Cup supports this, with the body reporting a total of 3.572 billion viewers tuning in to the competition.

Is sports viewership declining in 2021?

The viewership for sports in a pandemic-influenced society has been on a decline. The reasons vary from concerns over COVID-19, an oversaturation of content to choose from, to other attention-seeking events.

Is NFL viewership declining?

The National Football League, one of the highest-rated sporting events in the US, averaged just 15.4 million TV viewers in the 2020 regular season. This represents a 7% decline from 2019. 2020 is the first year that has seen viewership decline since 2017.

What is the single most-watched sporting event in the world?

The 2012 Summer Olympics held in London and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio both drew the highest number of viewership for any single sporting event. A total of 3.6 billion viewers tuned in to watch these quadrennial sporting events.

How many people watch sports?

In the US alone, there are over 200 million sports fans. Worldwide figures are difficult to accumulate, but based on how many people have tuned in to the biggest sporting events, more than half of the world’s population watches sports.