Weekend ratings predictions: PGA Tour, NASCAR and more – SportingNews.com
First, the results of last week’s predictions:
— NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Indianapolis. Prediction: 2.8; final rating: 3.0.
— CONCACAF Gold Cup final, Mexico-Jamaica. Predictions: 2.9 (UNI) and 0.5 (FS1); final ratings: 2.3 (UNI) and 0.4 (FS1)
— PGA Tour RBC Canadian Open, final round. Prediction: 1.5; final rating: 1.6.
— MLB Sunday Night Baseball, Tigers-Red Sox. Prediction: 1.0; final rating: 1.2.
— WNBA All-Star Game. Prediction: 0.6; final ratings: 0.4 (ABC) and 0.1 (ESPN).
— UFC Fight Night. Prediction: 1.4; final rating: 1.7.
This week’s predictions:
PGA Tour National, final round (3 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS) . PGA Tour ratings have been on the rise this year, largely without the help of Tiger Woods. With Woods in contention heading into the weekend at the National, the ‘Tiger effect’ may finally be in play. Barring a complete collapse on Saturday, Woods’ quest for his first win of the season should score the event’s highest final round rating since 2012 — the last time he won (4.4). Prediction: 2.4.
NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Pocono (1:30 p.m. Sunday, NBCSN) . Coming off of record ratings at the Brickyard — the lowest ever for the race but the highest ever for NBCSN — NASCAR heads to Pocono this weekend. All nine races on cable this season have had a double-digit decline in ratings, and Pocono should be no exception. Last year’s race had a 2.8 on ESPN. Prediction: 2.5.
Horse racing, Haskell Invitational (5 p.m. Sunday, NBC) . Triple Crown winner American Pharoah returns to the track Sunday, racing in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Haskell Invitational. Ratings should comfortably top last year’s 0.7, though do not expect blockbuster numbers. Prediction: 1.0.
Premier Boxing Champions (9 p.m. Saturday, ESPN) . ESPN airs its second Premier Boxing Champions telecast Saturday. The network’s debut three weeks ago more-than-doubled its average viewership for Friday Night Fights, but scored a mere 0.5 rating — among the lowest for the PBC on any network. Look for even lower numbers this week. Prediction: 0.4.
MLB Sunday Night Baseball, Nationals-Mets (8 p.m. Sunday, ESPN) . A big market battle in the N.L. East pennant race should result in solid numbers for Sunday Night Baseball, even if slightly below last year’s 1.5 for Dodgers/Giants. Prediction: 1.4.
Paulsen is the founder of Sports Media Watch and a contributor for Sporting News. Follow him on Twitter @Paulsen_SMW .
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