Saturday night’s matchup between LSU and Arkansas, which aired on ESPN2, drew an audience of 355,000 viewers, according to ShowBuzzDaily.com.
That number made the game the most-watched softball telecast of the weekend, narrowly edging out Sunday afternoon’s telecast of game two of the Tigers/Razorbacks series, which also aired on ESPN2 and drew 335,000 viewers.
Both games of the series outdrew many of the women’s basketball NCAA tournament games, including the Sweet 16 game between Texas and Ohio State that aired Friday night on ESPN2 and drew 273,000 viewers.
Additionally, the pair of LSU and Arkansas matchups also drew a larger audience than Sunday afternoon’s NHL game between 2-time defending Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders, which aired on TNT and drew a viewership of 297,000.
Other events that fell behind the pair of softball games in terms of total viewership included Sunday’s MLS soccer game between Portland and Orlando (245k) and an NCAA hockey tournament face-off between Minnesota and Western Michigan (226k).
The numbers for LSU/Arkansas are up significantly from last season’s softball telecast, on the same weekend, of LSU and Florida, which drew 245,000 viewers on ESPN in 2021.
ESPN announced that a pair of Week 8 matchups have been elevated to being aired in primetime on ESPN this weekend – Kentucky at LSU will air at 6 pm Eastern on Saturday evening, followed by Oklahoma State and Baylor at 8 pm Eastern.
