The 50 Most-Watched Sporting Events of 2012 

Sport Date Event Net Rating Viewers
NFL Sun., 2/5/12 Super Bowl: Giants/Patriots NBC 47.0 111.3M
Olympics Fri., 7/27/12 Opening Ceremony NBC 21.0 40.7M
NCAAF Mon., 1/9/12 BCS Champ.: Alabama/LSU ESPN 14.0 24.2M
NCAAB (M) Mon., 4/3/12 Final Four: Kentucky/Kansas CBS 12.3 20.9M
NBA Thu., 6/21/12 NBA Finals: Thunder/Heat G5 ABC 10.9 18.4M
MLB Sun., 10/28/12 World Series: Giants/Tigers G4 FOX 8.9 15.5M
Horse Sat., 5/5/12 Triple Crown: Kentucky Derby NBC 9.0 14.8M
NASCAR Mon., 2/27/12 Sprint Cup: Daytona 500 FOX 8.0 13.7M
Golf Sun., 4/8/12 The Masters: Final Round CBS 8.0 13.5M
Tennis (M) Sun., 8/5/12 Olympics: Murray/Federer NBC 5.5 8.2M
Tennis (W) Sat., 8/4/12 Olympics: Serena W./Sharapova NBC 5.6 7.9M
IndyCar Sun., 5/27/12 Indianapolis 500 ABC 4.3 6.8M
NHL Mon., 6/11/12 SCF: Devils/Kings G6 NBC 3.1 4.9M
MMA Sat., 1/28/12 UFC on FOX 2 FOX 2.6 4.7M
NASCAR Nationwide Sat., 2/25/12 Drive4COPD 300 ESPN 2.9 4.4M
Int’l Soccer (W) Thu., 8/9/12 Olympics: USA/Japan NBCSN 2.7 4.4M
Int’l Soccer (M) Wed., 2/29/12 Friendly: Mexico/Colombia UNI 2.0 4.3M
NCAAB (W) Tue., 4/3/12 Final Four: Baylor/Notre Dame ESPN 2.7 4.2M
MLS Sat., 12/1/12 MLS Cup: Galaxy/Dynamo ESPN 0.5 797K
WNBA Wed., 10/17/12 WNBA Finals: Fever/Lynx G2 ESPN 0.5 778K