RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – More than 120,000 people watched the VCU Rams men’s basketball team battle St. Joe’s in the A-10 title game Sunday, according to a preliminary Nielsen ratings report. Final Nielsen numbers should be released later Monday.
Despite the Rams loss, ratings for the VCU game surpassed the competing NASCAR on Fox and NHL on NBC combined.
Ratings peaked about 2:45 Sunday afternoon with a 12 rating/21 share.
That means 21 percent, or 68,000 households, in the Richmond television market were tuned to the game at that time.
VCU’s ratings might have been more impressive had another state school, the University of Virginia, not been playing at the same time on a different channel.
Virginia defeated Duke to win the ACC title Sunday afternoon.
The game was broadcast on both ESPN and the Richmond CW. The combined rating of that game on two channels equaled that of the VCU game on CBS 6, according to a preliminary Nielsen ratings report.
Both VCU and UVa. play their opening round NCAA tournament games on cable.
The Rams play Stephen F. Austin State University Friday at 7:27 p.m. on truTV. The Virginia Cavaliers play Coastal Carolina Friday at 9:25 p.m. on TBS.
