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Call it the Tiger Effect, or just call it Masters excitement: ESPN reported viewership of Thursday’s first-round averaged 2.8 million viewers, a 21-percent increase over 2021’s opening-day viewership and the largest television audience of the first round since 2018.
ESPN said that its nearly five-hour Thursday telecast peaked at 3.6 million viewers between 4:15 and 4:29 p.m. ET as Woods played the final hole of his first competitive round since a car crash in 2021 left him with severe leg injuries.
Last year’s average viewership of the first round was 2.3 million.
ESPN+ also drew plenty of viewers, with ESPN saying the online livestream drew a record audience for golf but not providing figures in a media release announcing the news. Most of Woods’ round was played before the live television window began, so the livestream (which was also available at Masters.com) was the only option to catch the action.
ESPN’s “SportsCenter at the Masters” that ran from 10 a.m. through 3 p.m. also saw a large increase in viewers, up 149 percent over 2021’s first round and 120 percent over 2019. Showing a selection of live shots from Augusta National, the program averaged 801,000 viewers, including an average of 1.2 million between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. ET as Woods played the back nine.
ESPN concluded its TV coverage for 2022 with Friday’s second round. CBS takes over with network TV coverage for the 67th consecutive year.
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