The Pro Bowl had its lowest live audience on record on Sunday afternoon, as the flag football game drew 4.7 million viewers across ABC/ESPN/DisneyXD, down 18% from last year. The first flag game two years ago drew 6.3 million. The least-watched Pro Bowl of any kind was the “virtual” edition during the pandemic in 2021, with ABC/ESPN drawing only 1.84 million viewers for an event without any actual game. On Thursday night, the Pro Bowl Skills Challenge was down just 1% from last year on ESPN (1.13 million vs. 1.14 million). That audience has remained relatively steady over the last few years.
NASCAR’s Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray, the first time the season-opening exhibition has been held in Winston-Salem, drew 3.08 million viewers Sunday night on Fox, well above the 1.51 million that FS1 drew last year (the event had to be moved to a Saturday night off Fox in 2024 with inclement weather headed for L.A.). Among Clash races that have aired on Fox, this is the lowest figure yet for the exhibition. In 2023, in the same timeslot (and up against the Grammys like this year), Fox drew 3.65 million for the race.
The PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday had its best final round audience since 2021, as Rory McIlroy took the win. CBS drew 3.3 million viewers this year, which was the best since Jordan Spieth made a run at the win in 2019 before finishing third (4.2 million). Sunday’s telecast peaked at 4 million viewers toward the end of the round. Earlier on Sunday, leading into the CBS window, Golf Channel drew 1.05 million viewers for live Pebble Beach coverage.
ESPN drew 2.29 million viewers for North Carolina-Duke on Saturday night, marking the lowest audience in the rivalry game since the first matchup in 2022 (2.19 million). UNC-Duke is still the second-best college hoops game this season (any network) and best for an ESPN game. The best college hoops game this season is 5.1 million viewers for Illinois-Arkansas on Thanksgiving, which had the benefit of an NFL lead-in. After that UNC-Duke game Saturday, Arkansas’ upset of Kentucky drew 1.94 million viewers, marking the fourth-best CBB audience for ESPN this season.
The chart below lists viewership figures for select recent sports telecasts.
