Niall Effect? ESPN Scores Par 3 Contest Ratings Record

Was it Tiger? Or Niall Horan? Or both?

For Immediate Release:

ESPN Sets Viewership Record for Masters Par 3 Contest
 
ESPN’s live telecast of the Masters Par 3 Contest from Augusta National Golf Club on Wednesday, April 8, was the most-viewed telecast of the event since ESPN began televising it in 2008.
 
The contest featured legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus scoring a hole-in-one and Tiger Woods playing in the event for the first time in 10 years.
 
The two-hour telecast averaged 1,084,871 viewers, surpassing the previous record of 1,007,274 that watched the 2010 telecast.
 
The telecast averaged a 0.8 rating, tying the record for the event’s highest rating on ESPN that was set in 2008 and matched in 2010.
 
Also on Wednesday, ESPN’s SportsCenter at the Masters special from 5-6 p.m. ET saw large viewership and ratings jumps over last year’s telecast, with the viewership average up 83 percent to 708,000 from 387,000 in 2014 and the rating up 67 percent to a 0.5 from a 0.3 last year.
 
ESPN is airing live coverage of the first and second rounds of the Masters Tournament on Thursday and Friday, April 9-10, from 3-7:30 p.m. ET.