Christina Gough
Research expert covering sports and video gaming
Sports on TV in the United States - statistics & facts
In February 2024, the appearance of one popstar helped to smash TV viewership records. While Taylor Swift supported boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce from the stands, Super Bowl LVIII was watched by over 123 million viewers back home, making it the most watched single telecast in TV history. Indeed, from the NFL to the Olympics, sporting events dominate the list of leading telecasts in the United States every year.
The Super Bowl - the sporting event of the year?
The National Football League (NFL) is a massive draw for television audiences in the U.S., with the Super Bowl being the most popular and expensive sporting event of the year. The spectacle surrounding the event, including the half-time show, generates millions of dollars for television networks and advertisers alike, with advertisers paying an average of seven million US dollars for a 30-second-long commercial during the Super Bowl LVIII broadcast in 2024.The NBA and the rise of the WNBA
Similarly, the National Basketball Association (NBA) also draws in millions of viewers each year, with the NBA Finals constituting a major highlight of the American sporting calendar. An average of 1.56 million viewers tuned in to watch NBA regular season games across ABC, ESPN, and TNT in the 2023/24 season. Meanwhile, the viewership of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks were watched by an average of 11.3 million viewers in the United States. The WNBA has also seen its popularity skyrocket in recent years thanks to breakout stars such as Catlin Clark and Angel Reese. The average TV viewership of the WNBA regular season in 2024 reached a record of over 650 thousand viewers.World Series viewership increased in 2024
Major League Baseball (MLB), and in particular the World Series, also play a prominent role in the TV schedule. The 2024 World Series played out between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, two of the most prominent and successful teams in the MLB who share 35 World Series titles between them. It was therefore no surprise that viewership for this series experienced a slight increase, with the average TV viewership for the World Series in 2024 reaching 14.3 million.The Stanley Cup is not quite as popular as other championship games
While the NHL rounds out the big four professional sports leagues in North America, it does not quite have the same pull when it comes to TV viewers. The championship series of the NHL, the Stanley Cup, had an average TV viewership of just over four million viewers in 2024. This series saw the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in seven games to claim their first ever Stanley Cup title. Will the exploits of some of the leagues biggest stars such as Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon help to continue the upward trend in the NHL's TV viewership figures?
