Ratings Roundup: Post Olympics High, NHL on ESPN Viewership Spikes Over 50%

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, NASCAR Cup Series sees a 43% viewership increase last week; ESPN secures the most watched MLB spring training game in a decade; and more.

ESPN Generates Most-Watched MLB Spring Training Game in Ten Years with Atlanta Braves vs. Detroit Tigers on March 2

Braves vs Tigers March 2, 2026, 1P ET first pitch

468K viewers

Peak: 519K

Up 54% from last year's comparable game (Boston/Baltimore)

NHL on ESPN Scores Out of Olympic break

The 2025-26 NHL season on ESPN and ABC is strong out of the Olympic Winter Games break. On Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers-New York Rangers matchup on ESPN delivered 615K viewers (peak: 699K), 51% vs, last season's NHL on ESPN average.

Saturday's ABC doubleheader featured the Pittsburgh Penguins-New York Rangers, which averaged 973K viewers (peak: 1.3M), 16% vs. last season's NHL on ABC average. Following, the Boston Bruins-Philadelphia Flyers delivered 1.1M viewers (peak: 1.4M), 30% vs. last season's NHL on ABC average.

Sunday on ESPN, the Florida Panthers-New York Islanders delivered 668K viewers (peak: 876K), 64% vs. last season's NHL on ESPN average.

Through 27 games, the NHL on ESPN and ABC is averaging 785K viewers, 17% YoY.

NASCAR Cup Series: Sunday's Race at COTA on FOX Ranked as the #1 Sports Event of the Week on TV

Viewership was at 43% over the next closest event, earning a 2.06 household rating and 3.9 million average viewers per minute

While viewership was off -5% YOY, NCS outperformed IndyCar, which also aired on FOX Sunday prior to NASCAR RaceDay, by nearly 3X (1.3 million)

At peak, 4.7 million viewers were tuned in 6:30PM-6:45PM

The race aired directly opposite two of the top five ranked sports events of the week (NBA on ABC, 2.7 million; PGA TOUR Cognizant Classic on NBC, 2.5 million)

The race window also aired during elevated cable news consumption after the international news involving the U.S. overseas operations broke early Saturday

Viewership across FOX NEWS, CNN and MS NOW averaged 1.6 million viewers per minute Sunday inside the NCS race window, up 64% over the prior Sunday timeslot

Prior cross-over audience research has indicated a higher percentage of NASCAR television viewers watch FOX NEWS, which averaged 3.0 million viewers inside the race window, up 80% over the prior Sunday timeslot

Tyler Reddick became the first driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win the first 3 events of the season

NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series: Saturday's race earned a 0.59 rating on The CW with an average of 1.1 million viewers tuned in per minute, down -4% YOY

The race ranked as the #1 telecast of the week on The CW for the 3rd time in 3 races of the 2026 NXS season

At peak, 1.4 million viewers were tuned in to the conclusion of the race

See below for impacts of cable news consumption during NOAPS telecast window

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Saturday's race, which marked the series' first ever street event, earned a 0.58 household rating on FOX with an average of 1.0 million viewers tuned in per minute, becoming the most-watched NCTS race of any kind on FOX broadcast network since 2018 Bristol (1.1 million)

No direct YOY race comparison, but viewership was up 35% over 2025's NCTS FOX broadcast network average (770,000; 4 telecasts)

At peak, 1.3 million viewers were tuned in 2:30PM-2:45PM

See below for impacts of cable news consumption during NCTS telecast window

IndyCar (St. Petersburg): Sunday's season-opening event at St. Petersburg earned a 0.76 household rating on FOX with an average of 1.40 million viewers tuned in per minute, down -1% versus last year's race in St. Petersburg, which marked the start of a multi-year exclusive media rights deal with FOX (1.42 million avg. viewers)

At peak, 1.6 million viewers were tuned in to the conclusion of the race just prior to NASCAR RaceDay

Last year's race peaked at 1.8 million viewers just prior to RaceDay. The 2026 peak was 70% higher than last week's final quarter hour viewership for the event prior to RaceDay on FOX (Michigan/Iowa, Women's NCAAB, 929,000)

As data becomes available throughout the week, we will take a deeper dive into IndyCar's audience composition and viewership cross-over versus NCS

Cable news: Breaking international news involving U.S. overseas activity drove elevated cable news viewership throughout the weekend

During the NCS window, cable news viewership was up 64% over last week (FOX NEWS up 80%)

During the NOAPS window, cable news viewership was up more than 3X over last week (FOX NEWS up more than 2.5X)

During the NCTS window, cable news viewership was up nearly 2.5X over last week (FOX NEWS up nearly 1.5X)

Weekend Motorsports, ranked by audience size:

NCS (COTA): 3.933 million viewers on FOX

IndyCar (St. Petersburg): 1.335 million viewers on FOX

NOAPS (COTA): 1.072 million viewers on The CW

NCTS (St. Petersburg): 1.039 million viewers on FOX

NASCAR Cup Series DuraMax Grand Prix Aired Sunday, March 1st on FOX

U.S. Rating

2026: 2.06 on FOX

Down -4% versus 2025 COTA on FOX (2.15)

Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2 )

2026: 3,933 (3.9 million)

Down -5% versus 2025 COTA on FOX (4.1 million)

NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 Aired Saturday, February 28th on The CW

U.S. Rating

2026: 0.59 on The CW

Down -3% versus 2025 COTA on The CW (0.61)

Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages P2 )

2026: 1,072 (1.1 million)

Down -4% versus 2025 COTA on The CW (1.1 million)

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 Aired Saturday, February 28th on FOX

U.S. Rating

2026: 0.58 on FOX

No direct YOY comparison

Up 29% over 2025 NCTS average on FOX (4 races, 0.45)

Avg. Viewers (000) (all ages

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