FROM THE ESPN PRESS ROOM:
The 2022 Little League Softball® World Series was ESPN’s most-watched since it expanded coverage of the tournament in 2017, according to Nielsen. It averaged 294,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, up 19% from last year and up 21% from 2019. The increases occurred despite losing the primetime Little League Softball World Series Championship Game window due to inclement weather.
ESPN’s Little League Softball World Series coverage also experienced double-digit year over year viewership gains in key demos, including a 74% increase among teenagers and a 30% year increase among women.
The Little League Softball World Series Semifinal Game on August 14 between Hewitt, Texas, and Chesterfield, Virginia, was the tournament’s most-watched telecast since 2018. It averaged 537,000 viewers.
Additionally, viewership for the Little League Baseball® World Series region tournament games averaged 558,000 viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, up from 552,000 viewers in 2021. The most-watched game of this year’s baseball region tournament was the Metro Region Final between Massapequa, New York, and Toms River, New Jersey, which averaged 868,000 viewers. It’s the most-watched baseball region tournament on cable since 2019.
Viewership increases for both Little League Softball and Little League Baseball game coverage on ESPN platforms comes as the number of televised games continues to expand.