• Early-Round Matchups are Highest-Rated Since 2014, Tie for Second-Highest on Record
• Overnight Ratings Increase for 13 of the 14 Early-Round Games
• Florida vs. TCU (Game 14): Highest-Rated Non-Finals CWS game since 2014

Leading into the College World Series Finals, ESPN’s College World Series overnight ratings (June 17-June 24) are up 50% from last year, and is the most-streamed early-round ever. On TV, this year’s CWS provided the highest-rated CWS early-round since 2014, and ties for second-highest rated early-round on record*. The 14 non-Finals CWS games of the 2017 Series garnered a 0.6 average overnight rating, and an average minute audience of 28,000 viewers with 120,000 unique viewers watched a total of 5,628,000 minutes.  The success of the CWS thus far is a continuation of the early trend through the first six games (June 17-June 19), which were the most-viewed since 2011.

Of the early-round games, 13 of the 14 matchups were up from 2016, with Game 7 equaling the same rating as last year. Saturday’s matchup featuring Florida vs. TCU (Game 14) earned the highest overnight rating with a 0.9, which ranks as the highest-rated non-Finals CWS game since 2014 (40 games). Every matchup of the early-round also saw streaming growth in average minute audience and total minutes viewed.

Baseball Love from Texas
With a local market rating of 2.8, the Florida-TCU matchup (Game 14), in which the Gators advanced to the Finals, was the highest rated CWS game in Dallas-Ft. Worth since 2010.

Eye of the Tiger
LSU’s run in the College World Series has seen impressive numbers, and Friday’s Game 11 was no different. LSU’s win over Oregon State on Friday was the most-streamed non-Finals game of the CWS, with 178,000 unique viewers watching 9,509,000 total minutes.

An SEC Chase for the Crown
The College World Series Finals begin today (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), in a best-of-three series featuring two SEC schools—LSU and Florida. Game 2 will be played tomorrow, June 27 (8 p.m., ESPN), with Game 3 (if necessary) on Wednesday, June 28, at 8 p.m., also on ESPN. Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez, Kyle Peterson and Laura Rutledge will be on the call for the championship series. SEC Network will also provide live coverage from Omaha, with Dari Nowkhah hosting both a 30-minute pregame show and a one-hour postgame show alongside analysts Chris Burke and Todd Walker each night.

*Records date back to 2003
Networks utilized for early round games can vary on a year-to-year basis

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