ESPN Coverage of COLLEGE WORLD SERIES Games Are Most-Viewed Since 2011

ESPN's College WORLD SERIES viewership is off to a historic start, with the first six games (June 17-19) of the annual college baseball season-ending championship finale averaging a total live audience (TV + streaming) of 923,000 viewers. The audience for the 2017 College WORLD SERIES is the highest since 2011 and the third-best ever on record* through six games. Additionally, this year's viewership is up 95% from last season's first six games** and on pace to be the most-streamed College WORLD SERIES ever. Complete schedule and team results are here.

Eyes from New Orleans

The New Orleans market earned a 14.4 and a 14.0 local rating for LSU's first two games: vs. Florida State (June 17) and Oregon State (June 19), respectively. The ratings are second and third highest in the market for any CWS game since 2009, notably better than any game in 2015 when LSU last played in Omaha. The two local ratings are also better than every game of the 2013 CWS which LSU played in, except when the Tigers played UCLA (June 16, 2013).

Overall, New Orleans is the highest-rated local market through all six games with a 7.1 local rating, followed by Louisville (2.8) and Portland, Ore. (2.1).

ESPN's Coverage of the College WORLD SERIES Continues Through Early Next Week

Coverage of the College WORLD SERIES continues tonight through June 28. Tonight's Game 8 will see LSU facing Florida State at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The winner of this matchup will go on to face Oregon State on Friday, June 23 (3 p.m., ESPN). Louisville will take on TCU tomorrow, June 22 (8 p.m., ESPN2), with the winner moving on to face Florida on Friday (8 p.m., ESPN). The CWS Finals begin Monday, June 26 at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Details are available here.

*Records go back to 1994

**Of the first six games this year, five aired on ESPN, with one on ESPN2. Last year's matchups aired on ESPN (1), ESPN2 (3) and ESPNU (2).

Please note: Viewership for games on June 20 was not available at the time of the release

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