The TV ratings for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open are out, according to a report by essentiallysports.com, and it shows the major championship viewership was down considerably from a year ago.
But while there were fewer people watching from home, there were a big number of them on site.
The U.S. Golf Association didn’t release specific attendance figures but did report that it’s the highest-attended USWO since 2015, a year when the tournament grounds were open for seven days, as compared to six this time around.
And the fans that went were spending money. The USGA says hospitality at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, matched the all-time high while it proved to be the best year ever for merchandise sales, including highest average transaction.
As for the TV numbers, though, NBC’s final-round coverage of Yuka Saso’s second USWO title was down considerably from 2023 when the Open was staged at Pebble Beach, pure eye candy for golf viewers at home.
The Essentially Sports report says Sunday viewership was 1.58 million for Pebble but just 943,000 this time around. Saturday’s third round on NBC had 825,000 viewers while Friday’s second round, which was on cable on the USA Network, was 204,000.
It didn’t help that a caravan of big names failed to reach the weekend, including World No. 1 Nelly Korda.
