XFL Television Ratings Hit New Low
XFL television ratings hit a new low in Week 5.
Both Sunday games dropped below one million viewers for the first time, despite the late game airing on ESPN as opposed to the weaker ESPN 2 the prior week. The first game on Sunday airing on FS1 between the St. Louis BattleHawks and DC Defenders averaged 767,000 viewers, the smallest audience for an XFL game yet. The ESPN game on Sunday evening between the Tampa Bay Vipers and the Los Angeles Wildcats averaged 833,000 viewers.
Total attendance for the weekend was the lowest so far this season with 64,246 fans, down 8.5% from last week.
The first game on ABC on Saturday fared much better, as the audience was only down 1% from the week prior to 1.547 million viewers. However, the following game on FOX, which faced competition from NCAA basketball, was down 17% to 1.497 million viewers.
The four games averaged 1.16 million viewers, down 16% from Week 4.
Below are details ratings and attendance numbers for the first five weeks, courtesy of Showbuzz Daily:
Week 1 (Feb 8 & 9):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, Seattle at DC (17,163 fans): 3.302 million viewers, 1.1 (18-49)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, L.A. at Houston (17,815): 3.29 million, 1.1
Sun. Game 1 – ABC, Tampa Bay at New York (17,634): 3.39 million, 1.0
Sun. Game 2 – FOX, St. Louis at Dallas (17,206): 2.5 million, 0.93
Total Attendance: 69,818
Average: 3.12 million viewers
Week 2 (Feb 15 & 16):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, New York at D.C. (15,031): 2.146 million, 0.6 (18-49)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, Tampa Bay at Seattle (29,172): 2.324 million, 0.6
Sun. Game 1 – ESPN, Dallas at L.A. (14,979): 2.397 million, 0.6
Sun. Game 2 – FS1, St. Louis at Houston (17,103): 1.359 million viewers, 0.51
Total Attendance: 76,285 (+9.3%)
Average: 2.06 million viewers (-35.9%)
Week 3 (Feb 23 & 24):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, Houston at Tampa Bay (18,117): 1.914 million (-10.8%), 0.6 (no change)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, Dallas at Seattle (22,060): 2.051 million (-11.8%), 0.5 (-16.7%)
Sun. Game 1 – ESPN, New York at St. Louis (29,554): 1.473 million (-38.54%), 0.47 (-21.7%)
Sun. Game 2 – FS1, D.C. at L.A. (12,211): 1.004 million (-26.12%), 0.37 (-27.5%)
Total Attendance: 81,942 (+7.4%)
Average: 1.61 million viewers (-21.8%)
Week 4 (Feb 29 & Mar 1):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, L.A. at New York (12,116): 1.558 million (-24%), 0.4 (-33%)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, Seattle at St. Louis (27,527): 1.802 million (-5.85%), 0.5 (no change)
Sun. Game 1 – FS1, Houston at Dallas (18,332): 1.113 million (+10.86%), 0.38 (-19%)
Sun. Game 2 – ESPN 2, D.C. at Tampa Bay (12,249): 1.030 million (2.59%), 0.34 (-8.1%)
Total Attendance: 70,224 (-14%)
Average: 1.38 million viewers (-14%)
Week 5 (Mar 7 & 8):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, Seattle at Houston (19,773): 1.547 million (-0.7%)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, New York at Dallas (15,950): 1.497 million (-17%)
Sun. Game 1 – FS1, St. Louis at D.C. (16,342): 767,000 (-31%)
Sun. Game 2 – ESPN, Tampa Bay at L.A. (12,181): 833,000 (-19%)
Total Attendance: 64,246 (-8.5%)
Average: 1.16 million viewers (-16%)