Three college football games were the most watched sporting events on December 26.
The Texas State-Rice First Responder Bowl was the most-watched sporting event on Tuesday, December 26, averaging 2.80 million viewers on ESPN — up 27% from last year’s edition, which aired in an earlier timeslot (1.2, 2.20 minutes). ). The Bobcats’ win had the most viewers in the game’s history (dating back to 2011), surpassing the previous record of 2.73 million in 2021 (Air Force-Louisville).
The Kansas-UNLV Cactus Bowl was second among sports programs Tuesday, which averaged 2.69 million on ESPN — up 5% from last year (2.56 million) and the largest audience for a game since 2018 (TCU-Cal: 2.70 million).
Rounding out the lineup for bowl games, Minnesota-Bowling Green averaged 2.23 million in the Quick Lane Bowl — down 4% from New Mexico State-Bowling Green last year (2.32 million).
Moving from network football to European football, USA Network averaged 603,000 viewers for a four-way Premier League match on Boxing Day – 10% more than last year’s three-way match (548,000). Aston Villa-Manchester United led the way with 838,000 viewers, the largest audience for any single match on Boxing Day since 2020. Liverpool-Burnley followed in second with 756,000, followed by Fulham-Bournemouth with 532,000 and Nottingham-Newcastle with 282,000.
Further down the dial, NBA TV averaged 317,000 for an NBA regular-season doubleheader of the Pacers-Rockets (320,000) and Hornets-Clippers (314,000).
Tuesday, December 26 Sports viewership
