Ratings: NHL, NASCAR, preseason basketball, USMNT

The NHL’s hot start extends beyond Connor Bedard. Plus: more declines for NASCAR; a preseason high for the NBA; rising viewership for the USMNT on TNT.

NHL’s hot start continues even without Bedard on schedule

Wednesday’s Penguins-Red Wings NHL regular season game averaged a 0.41 rating and 699,000 viewers on TNT Wednesday night, more-than-doubling Flyers-Panthers in the same window last year (0.20, 338K) and the third-largest audience of the early season. Connor Bedard’s first two games hold the top two spots.

In other week two action, ESPN averaged a 0.29 and 552,000 for Lightning-Sabres on Tuesday, up 4% and 12% respectively from Flyers-Lightning a year ago (0.28, 494K). ESPN also averaged 513,000 for Avalanche-Kraken on Tuesday (+51%) and 401,000 for Blackhawks-Avalanche on Thursday.

NHL regular season games are averaging 679,000 viewers across ESPN and TNT so far this season (nine telecasts), up 38% from the first two weeks of last season (490K).

NASCAR down again at Las Vegas

NASCAR Cup Series playoff racing from Las Vegas averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.19 million viewers on NBC last Sunday, down 18% in ratings and 16% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.62M), marking the ninth of the past ten races to post a decline from the prior year. This year’s audience was the lowest for the race in the three years it has aired on broadcast television.

Warriors-Lakers hits preseason high

Last Friday’s Warriors-Lakers NBA preseason game averaged a 0.45 rating and 777,000 viewers on ESPN2, marking the largest preseason audience since 2019. The game easily outpaced its high school football lead-in (245K). Earlier in the night on TNT, Heat-Spurs drew a 0.32 and 561,000.

In other preseason action, Warriors-Kings averaged a 0.29 and 526,000 on ESPN Sunday night, preceded by Bucks-Lakers at a 0.31 and 509,000.

Shifting to college basketball, Big Ten Network drew a 0.09 and 184,000 for a DePaul-Iowa women’s preseason game from Iowa’s football stadium last Sunday. The game, featuring Iowa G Caitlin Clark, aired opposite the WNBA Finals on ABC.

USMNT viewership trending up on TNT

Last Saturday’s United States-Germany men’s soccer friendly averaged 610,000 viewers on TNT (including streaming on Max), marking the largest USMNT audience yet on TNT and the largest cable audience for a USMNT friendly in five years. TNT averaged 409,000 viewers for its first eight USMNT matches this year, up 30% from last year’s comparable cable windows.

For more sports ratings, see the latest weekly chart. Additional data from Programming Insider 10.18, 10.19, Sports TV Ratings 10.20)