Masters Sunday sees significant drop in TV viewing figures

The final round of the 2024 Masters averaged 9.59 million viewers in the US, with broadcaster CBS reporting a 20 per cent drop in viewership compared to the tournament’s climax last year.

Those tuning in to watch Scottie Scheffler’s win peaked at 12.56 million viewers on CBS, with an average of 8.21 million viewers for its two-day coverage of the Masters, down 9% on last year’s average.

This year’s final round ranks among the least-watched since 1993, bettering only the Covid-affected years of 2020 and 2021. The large viewership drop is attributed to the 2023 edition gaining a huge out-of-home viewership boost of 21%, whereas this year’s event benefited from just a 9% jump.

Meanwhile, ESPN, which broadcast the first two rounds of Masters, averaged 3.4 million viewers for its two-day coverage. This was the largest two-day average viewership since 2018, with this year’s first round gaining the tournament’s largest opening round audience in nine years.