The LPGA is enjoying record television ratings, with July being the most-watched in the tour’s history, according to a report by Sports Business Journal.
The 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, held for the first time at historic Pebble Beach Golf Links, certainly provided golf fans a reason to tune in. And they stuck around. Despite a leaderboard devoid of most of the tour’s big names, the third and final rounds on NBC each surpassed 1 million viewers. Sunday’s action peaked at 1.59 million, the best number of the season. The prime-time NBC window also helped the cause.
The much less heralded Dana Open on CBS also hit 1 million viewers for its final round, giving the tour three such landmark days, according to LPGA data. SBJ reports that in 2014, 2016 and 2022, there were two broadcasts that surpassed the seven-digit mark.
For the month of July 2023 as a whole, viewership averaged 600,000.
This week’s AIG Women’s Open is the fifth and final major of the 2023 campaign. NBC will have the third and final rounds on broadcast TV from noon to 2 p.m. ET.