Weekend ratings predictions: Women's World Cup final … – Sporting News – SportingNews.com
First, the results of last week’s predictions:
— FIFA Women’s World Cup, United States-China. Prediction: 3.5; final rating: 3.2.
— NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Sonoma. Prediction: 2.3; final rating: 2.3.
— PGA Tour Greater Hartford Open, final round: Prediction: 1.5; final rating: 2.0.
— U.S. Senior Open, third and final round coverage. Predictions: 0.4 and 0.6; final ratings: 0.5 and 0.6.
— Major League Baseball, regional action. Prediction: 1.5; final rating: 1.2.
— Major League Soccer, Sounders-Timbers. Prediction: 0.3; final rating: 0.2.
This week’s predictions:
FIFA Women’s World Cup final, United States-Japan (7 p.m. Sunday, FOX) . This year’s Women’s World Cup has already generated six of the 11 largest audiences on record for the event, and Sunday’s United States/Japan final seems a virtual lock to shatter the all-time viewership mark of 18.0 million for the 1999 final. While viewership records are relatively easy to break thanks to population growth, ratings records are a bit more durable. The 1999 match had an 11.4 rating on ABC, and the 2011 final drew a 7.4 on ESPN. Prediction: 10.8.
NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Daytona (7 p.m. Sunday, NBC) . When NASCAR moved the summer Daytona race from Saturday to Sunday night, it likely hoped to attract more eyeballs for NBC’s much-hyped return to the sport. Instead, the re-launch of NASCAR on NBC will air directly opposite the USA in the Women’s World Cup final — a head-to-head meeting that even Dale Earnhardt Jr. called “[n]ot smart at all” on Twitter. While the Women’s World Cup will trounce Sunday’s race in the ratings, NASCAR should at the very least come away with a solid increase in ratings. Last year’s race was rained out, but the 2013 edition drew a 3.5 on TNT. Prediction: 4.2.
Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (12 p.m. Saturday, ESPN2; encore 4 p.m. ESPN) . Live coverage of the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest should easily top last year, when the event was relegated to ESPNEWS due to Wimbledon and the World Cup (0.3). On the other hand, the encore presentation on ESPN figures to drop from last year on ESPN2, which was boosted by a World Cup lead-in (1.6). Predictions: 0.9 and 0.8.
FIFA Women’s World Cup third-place match, Germany-England (4 p.m. Saturday, FOX) . The non-U.S. matches in this year’s Women’s World Cup have not been particularly big draws, but Saturday’s third-place match should at the very least top the 1.0 mark. Prediction: 1.2.
Major League Baseball, regional action (7 p.m. Saturday, FOX) . Baseball has not been much of a draw on FOX the past two years, with none of the network’s past 26 regular season telecasts hitting a 2.0 rating . This year’s five windows have ranged from 1.1 to 1.6, with last week’s 1.2 tied as the lowest ever for primetime MLB on over-the-air TV. The Fourth of July is not a particularly good night for television ratings, and with holiday falling on a low-rated Saturday night this year, expect another week of low numbers. Prediction: 1.4.
PGA Tour Greenbrier Classic, final round (3 p.m. Sunday, CBS) . The PGA Tour has had a healthy year in the ratings, with seven of the past 16 tournaments hitting multi-year highs for final round coverage . With Tiger Woods playing well enough to make the cut, look for this week’s Greenbrier Classic to score its best final round rating since 2012 (2.2). Prediction: 2.0.
Paulsen is the founder of Sports Media Watch and a contributor for Sporting News. Follow him on Twitter @Paulsen_SMW .
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