Ryder Cup Ratings Up From 2018, Down From 2016
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Television ratings for the 2021 Ryder Cup are in and they’re solid given a number of factors.
These were the first matches played this century without Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson
It was Sunday runaway going up against some stellar NFL action
The Friday to Sunday broadcast windows were all 11, 10 and six hours
Plenty of cords have been cut since the last domestic playing and almost all ratings are down
Final day audiences increased from the 2018 edition at Le Golf National where Europe won handily.
Sunday’s final day at Whistling Straits drew a 2.14/3.5 million total audience. That’s up from a 1.8/2.67m in 2018 but down from a 2016 final day 2.7/4.27m.
The 2012 final day at Medinah drew a 3.8/5.5 million average viewers) over a similar six hour window as recent Cups.
Showbuzzdaily.com has all the numbers here.
The Friday increase for Friday’s action is solid given the decline in homes reached for Golf Channel compared to five years ago:
Friday in 2018 on Golf Channel averaged 765k viewers but also started at 2 am ET.
In 2016, previously touted as the most watched weekday for Golf Channel, Ryder Cup coverage posted 1.3 million average viewers per minute and a 0.94 rating in 11 hours of coverage, nearly identical to this year’s .93 but can attribute the 16% rise presumably to additional streaming numbers.
Not so hot was Thursday’s Opening Ceremony, which drew a .13 and average of 209,000 viewers. So not far off from a fall PGA Tour final round.
