The Match VIII with Patrick Mahomes, Steph Curry and others recorded lowest viewership numbers in history: Report

The eighth edition of The Match had the lowest television audience level in the history of this event. This was revealed in a report published by Sports Business Journal, with data from Showbuzz Daily.

The Match, which pitted NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce against NBA stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, was aired by three networks, with a total audience of about 782,000 viewers.

Turner Network Television (TNT) was the channel with the largest audience (589,000), followed by HLN (106,000) and TruTV (87,000).

In addition, The Match pre-game show was aired on TNT and TruTV, with 254,000 and 51,000 viewers, respectively. Counting the pregame figures, the total audience would be set at 1.087 million viewers.

The Match competed in sports viewership with several events:

• The Qatar vs. Honduras Gold Cup of Nations match pulled 309,000 viewers on TUDN and 171,000 on Fox Sports News.
• The Mexico vs. Haiti of the same soccer tournament generated 554,000 viewers on TUDN and 266,000 on Fox Sports 1.
• The MLB All-Star selection garnered 329,000 viewers on ESPN.
• MLB primetime games (Astros vs. Cardinals and Giants vs. Blue Jays) reported 233,000 viewers on MLB Network.

Historical audience for The Match

This edition is the lowest viewership for The Match since the third time it was played (2020) when 1.03 million viewers watched Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley defeated Payton Manning and Steph Curry.

A year ago, the numbers were much better. The same three television networks that aired the 2023 edition (TNT, HLN, and TruTV) collectively reported 1.45 million viewers.

Although the specific amount of proceeds raised for charitable purposes during the event has not been disclosed by the sponsor, Capital One, the event is anticipated to have achieved success in its philanthropic objectives. The large turnout at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas further attested to the event's popularity and support from participants and attendees.

In this edition, the recipient of the proceeds is the charity 'No Hunger Kid'. Although it is Capital One's practice not to disclose the exact figures of the proceeds of The Match, it is known that they have been in the millions in each edition.

On the Sports side, the Kansas City Chiefs duo of Mahomes and Kelce defeated the Golden States Warriors duo of Curry and Thompson with a final score of 3 & 2.

Despite the fact that they are all amateur golfers, the result was surprising, since Curry has by far the best handicap of all (an excellent 0.1). However, Mahomes and Kelce demonstrated their skill and proficiency on the putting green, surpassing Curry and Thompson in that aspect of the game.

The NFL team managed to string together victories in three consecutive holes (2 to 4), which eventually proved decisive. Despite the NBA team's efforts to raise the pressure by winning the ninth hole, they were never able to tie the score.

This is Curry's second appearance in the event and he has endured two losses.