Viewership numbers for the semifinal and championship match of the U.S. Amateur are in, and the numbers may surprise some people.
NBC broadcast two hours of coverage during Saturday's semifinals and Sunday's championship match at the 126th U.S. Amateur
at Merion in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. And even up against the PGA Tour's FedEx St. Jude Championship, the U.S. Amateur had plenty of eyeballs paying attention.Saturday's coverage had 728,000 viewers while Sunday's championship match averaged 633,000 viewers, per Josh Carpenter with Sports Business Journal. The decrease is likely because there were only two golfers competing Sunday compared to two matches and four players on Saturday.
In comparison, Sunday's final round of the FedEx St. Jude was the most-watched
opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs in 13 years (2013), averaging 3.786 million viewers.
And through another lens, for LIV Golf New York at Trump Bedminster, which concluded two weekends ago, both Saturday (381K) and Sunday (453K) were improvements year-over-year but fell way behind in comparison to U.S. Amateur coverage.
Amateur golf doesn't get much TV coverage throughout the year, but it remains one of the most popular areas of the sport. Outside of the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur, the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup get their fair share of time on air, and in recent years the Augusta National Women's Amateur has also become a must-watch event for golf fans every spring.
The viewership from the U.S. Amateur is proof there's an audience for the best amateurs in the world, even when only two of them are on the golf course.
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. Amateur draws strong NBC audience despite FedExCup competition
