The NHL’s Stanley Cup and NBA Finals just finished up. The Stanley Cup had a strong series which went the full seven games; its ratings 19% above last year’s. The NBA Finals this year were so-so, especially in comparison to last year’s match up between the Lakers and the Celtics. Unsurprisingly the Finals draw 4% less viewers this year.

Over the long term the NBA Finals and the World Series have lost viewers. The Superbowl has had the opposite trend. This year’s Superbowl between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers had a record 98.7 million viewers. The PGA’s U.S. Open and the Stanley Cup seem to have maintained their total viewers, but I couldn’t get earlier historical data to confirm this.

Taking into account population growth gives a somewhat different story. Since 1968 the U.S. population has grown from 200 to 300 million, and U.S. TV households have doubled  to 114 million. Based on household ratings (percentage of the total TV household population) the Superbowl has just maintained its viewership levels.

It would be interesting to compare unique viewership between the Superbowl and these other sporting events that extend over various days and in certain cases like the Stanley Cup, various networks (this year’s Stanley Cup was broadcast by NBC and Versus). The total reach would probably not reach the Superbowl audience but it would certainly paint a different picture in terms of total audience size.