While U.S. viewers stayed away from Ryder Cup, Sky Sports enjoyed its biggest weekend

While the massive lead the European side built on Saturday of the Ryder Cup didn't help viewership in the United States, the same could not be said for those on the other side of the Atlantic, who watched the carnage in massive numbers last weekend.

Going into the final day of play at Bethpage Black, Team Europe held an 11½ to 4½ lead over Team USA. After Viktor Hovland had to withdraw due to injury and his match against Harris English was halved before a shot was hit on Sunday, the Europeans only needed 2½ of the remaining 11 points to retain the cup. That meant a small number of American fans tuned in, with an average of 3.22 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, with a peak of 5.3 million watching between 5 and 5:15 p.m. ET.

But Sky Sports enjoyed its biggest weekend in history, as a total of 8.8 million viewers tuned into the channel, although some did so for other events.

According to a story at Sky Sports, the numbers were impressive across the board.

On Sunday evening, one in four TV viewers were watching the dramatic end to the singles, including more than 40% of under-35s. The audience peak just after 10pm for the nail-biting finale was the highest ever for golf on Sky Sports, eclipsing the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah and Rory McIlroy's Masters win in April, which remains Sky Sports' most-watched single day.

Ryder Cup interest extended beyond linear as Sky Sports social channels generated 55 million total views across all platforms, up 66% from 2023. Digital engagement saw 12.4 million page views across Ryder Cup week on the Sky Sports app and skysports.com, and the Sky Sports Golf podcast topped the trending chart on Apple Podcasts over the weekend.

Chief Sports Officer, Jonathan Licht, said: "The Ryder Cup weekend always delivers high drama and this year was no exception with extraordinary twists and historic victory for Team Europe. Record audiences tuned in to watch the thrilling action from Bethpage Black, and the Premier League, WSL, Championship, Super League, NFL and more. The results we've seen across linear, social, and digital this weekend show how the biggest sporting events really are the best of entertainment, and the exceptional teams at Sky Sports help make them truly unmissable for fans."

NBC's deal with the PGA of America to broadcast the Ryder Cup runs through 2031, but with two years before the next Ryder Cup, this much is clear: Suspense sells, golf fans crave the agony and ecstasy of momentum swings, and they think the outcome is a forgone conclusion, the ratings will suffer.

Golfweek's Tim Schmitt contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. viewers stayed away from Ryder Cup, Sky Sports enjoyed its biggest weekend