The PGA Championship wrapped up Sunday on ESPN, finishing off as the most-watched edition of the event on cable in 10 years. The Championship held at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California pulled in 1,965,000 viewers on average during the final round which aired from noon to 3 pm on Sunday. That’s up 60 percent from last’s year’s final round broadcast by TNT.
Part of why this year’s viewership numbers were so high was thanks to more people from the younger demographic tuning in. Viewership from adults ages 18-34 was up 76 percent from last year’s broadcast of the championship, and ESPN’s average of ages 18-49 viewers was up 40 percent over the past five years. ESPN+ also featured extensive live streaming coverage throughout the event, further pulling in a younger audience.
Another factor that may be contributing to the success is because people have been deprived of live sports all year and possibly jumped at the chance to watch an event. The event was originally scheduled for May 14–17 but was postponed until August due to the pandemic. Across all four rounds, ESPN averaged 1,659,000 viewers, up 35 percent from TNTs coverage in 2019.
This was also the first time ESPN has aired the PGA Championship in 30 years. This was the first year in the sports network’s 11 year deal to air the PGA Championships.
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