McIlroy’s victory delivered the most watched Masters final round since 2018.
The final round of the 2025 Masters golf tournament averaged 12.71 million viewers on CBS, becoming the most watched Masters final round since 2018.
Confirmed:
- Rory McIlroy’s victory peaked at 19.54 million viewers
- This year’s final round was up 33 per cent in viewership on last year
- CBS averaged 7.62 million viewers for third round, up 16 per cent year-over-year (YoY)
- The Masters became the most streamed golf event ever for Paramount+, with triple-digit viewership growth from 2024
- In the UK, a record peak audience of 1.85 million tuned in on Sky Sports – 37 per cent of total TV viewership
Context:
This year’s Masters saw McIlroy triumph in a playoff against Justin Rose to win his first Masters title and complete golf’s career grand slam. This narrative, coupled with a close leaderboard, and strong performances by some of the game’s biggest stars helped push up the average – as did the box office pairing of McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, whose duel was eagerly anticipated in the early stages of the final round. The drama of a play-off helped deliver a huge peak audience window for CBS, which said its final round Masters coverage was the most watched golf broadcast on any network in seven years.
The strong viewership for CBS contrasted the lower audience figures ESPN gathered for the Masters’ opening two rounds. The Disney-owned network averaged 2.29 million viewers and 3.06 million viewers respectively for both rounds, which were down significantly on the previous year. The absence of Tiger Woods was cited as one factor.
As for Sky, its impressive figures compare favourably with its Premier League coverage and were achieved despite the Masters concluding after midnight in the UK. The tournament helped contribute to Sky Sports’ most watched day ever, with 7.5 million viewers tuning into its linear channels, averaging 1.3 million.
Credit: https://www.sportspro.com/news/the-masters-rory-mcilroy-cbs-tv-ratings-viewership-april/