American sports fans might be lusting for live events, but numbers indicate that they will tune in for just anything. Case in point, ESPN’s H-O-R-S-E competition featuring current and former NBA and WNBA players.
The eight-person tournament began on Sunday night with four quarterfinal matchups, and the audience was minimal. Less than 700,000 people tuned in for the anti-climactic and sometimes hard to follow event according to ShowBuzz Daily.
Sports broadcasts have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. While the 686,000 person audience is a disappointment for ESPN and the NBA, it should be pointed out that it was the highest rated sports broadcast of the night. It was also the second highest rated sporting event of the week, losing out to AEW Dynamite on TNT. Even that event only beat H-O-R-S-E by just 6,000 viewers.
ESPN and the NBA have gotten creative with how to fill the void left without live sports. H-O-R-S-E and NBA 2K tournaments don’t inspire the same passion that actual five-on-five basketball does though and that has been reflected in the ratings. The real test for how to quench sports fans’ thirst may come next week. The whole TV universe will be paying attention to the numbers the NFL Draft pulls down for ESPN, ABC, and the NFL Network.
