2022 Valspar Ratings Stink; The Players Lowest In At Least 20 Years
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We should draw a line through ratings for the rain-delayed, Gold Man-infused 2022 Players. But it’s still notable that live action during the weekend windows drew such putrid ratings for NBC.
Paulsen at SportsMediaWatch.com writes:
Monday’s rain-delayed final round of The Players Championship averaged 1.35 million viewers on Golf Channel, with the conclusion of the third round putting up 302,000 earlier in the day. Weekend coverage on NBC averaged a 1.6 and 2.56 million last Saturday and a 1.8 and 2.91 million last Sunday, the latter the tournament’s smallest Sunday audience in at least 20 years.
Some of this has to be the rain-delay forcing second and third round coverage into the NBC windows Saturday and Sunday. But the network’s inability to market “the product” like they could just a few years ago should be a concern down at the Global Home.
Last weekend’s 2022 Valspar was won for the second year in-a-row by Sam Burns and rated ever-so-slightly better than the Honda Classic in the same slot last year.
But both were hammered by the NCAA tournament but the Valspar at least drew a strong field. The ratings affirm that golf can’t compete with a surging NCAA Tournament and continuing a rough start to the PGA Tour’s 2022 Nielsen numbers. Going against Saturday’s 5.18 rating for Michigan-Tennessee and Sunday’s 6.19 for Duke-Michigan State, the Valspar was not able to crack a 1 on Saturday and drew a 1.49 Sunday.
The Honda Classic in the same post-Players/NCAA first weekend slot as the ‘22 Valspar:
