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Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Stephen A. Smith vs Clay Travis at Tuned In on September 16 in NYC. Don’t miss it. Buy tickets now!

How Did Other Sports Broadcasts Fare On Super Bowl Sunday?

  • Rowdy final round of Phoenix Open still draws nearly 4 million viewers.
  • NBA’s Celtics-Grizzlies battle pulls 2.1 million.
The final round of the Phoenix Open drew impressive ratings.

As usual, the Super Bowl dominated TV on Sunday, drawing its second highest-audience ever. 

But other sports had the misfortune of playing on the same day as Fox Sports’ 7.5-hour pregame show — and its subsequent telecast of a classic battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

Give these other leagues an “A” for effort. Their TV performance wasn’t bad, considering they were competing against a TV juggernaut. 

  • CBS Sports drew 3.672 million viewers for its final round of rowdy WM Phoenix Open coverage. Scottie Scheffler defended his title to reclaim the World No. 1 rating. It was the most-watched final round for a PGA Tour event, since last April’s RBC Heritage on CBS. The network’s audience peaked at 4.881 viewers.
  • ABC’s NBA coverage of the Boston Celtics vs. Memphis Grizzlies averaged 2.065 million viewers, per ShowBuzzDaily. That’s not bad, considering the game tipped off at 2 p.m. ET, directly opposite Fox’s Super Bowl pregame show.
  • ESPN’s telecast of the women’s college basketball game between LSU and South Carolina drew 1.466 million viewers. It was the most-watched women’s regular season college hoops game since 2010. That game also tipped off at 2 p.m. ET. 

A week before, South Carolina’s matchup against UConn was the fourth-most watched in that same span, gaining 1.087 million viewers.

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