Winter is when we watch television

Television viewership in the USA is generally highest in the winter months. Cold weather, shorter days, and increased indoor activities point people toward the television, with the Sports Business Journal reporting on recent records:

• The National Women’s Soccer League finally got over the 1 million viewer hump! Gotham FC’s win over the Washington Spirit on Nov. 22 for the championship averaged 1.2 million viewers in prime time, marking the league’s best audience on record.

• Moving the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix (Nov. 22) from 1am ET to 11pm ET paid off, as the event drew 1.5 million viewers on ABC — a record for the race.

• While we don’t have any Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) numbers yet, the NFL came into the holiday averaging 17.7 million viewers, which was its best figure through Week 12 since 2015.

• SailGP drew its best U.S. TV audience with a season recap special on Nov. 23, drawing 3.5 million viewers. The telecast aired opposite a strong NFL singleheader on CBS that Sunday. The SailGP telecast also is the best sailing telecast ever in the U.S., passing the 1992 America’s Cup on ABC (3.3 million).

Editor’s note: Odds are the USA viewership numbers from the 2025 SailGP Grand Final won’t be too good as it was on at 05:00-06:30 EST. By the way, the 1992 America’s Cup was May 9-16 in San Diego, CA.