2023 Q3 Sports Preview

Summertime is practically here, and for sports fans and advertisers, Q3 has plenty to get excited for! 

We’re a mere few weeks away from the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Kicking off on July 20, this year’s event will be held in two locations – Australia and New Zealand. The United States Women’s National Team will be seeking their third straight championship as they look to further cement their legacy as one of the most dominant teams in soccer history. More than 1 billion fans watched the event over during the 2019 contest, and with a newly expanded field of 32 teams, Cox Media will be televising 35 of the 65 games on FS1.  

For golf fans, the final major championship is also quickly approaching as the Open Championship (aka the British Open) will tee off on July 16 at Royal Liverpool. Last year’s Open Championship was won by the at the time world #1 player, Cam Smith. The event was one of the most viewed Open Championships in years boasting a 16% lift in viewership vs. 2021 and a 27% lift vs 2019. This year’s golf world has been nothing short of dramatic. Over the last year we saw several professionals defect to the Saudi run LIV Golf league, and now, we’ve recently heard announcements of a proposed merger between LIV and the PGA Tour. In general, professional golf has been a fantastic product for fans of the sport so far this year, and the blogger is expecting big things from the year’s final major.  

Heading into August, one of this blogger’s favorite events, the Little League World Series, is slated to air from August 17-28 across ESPN’s family of networks. Teams from around the world and the United States will come together to crown a new champion. Last year, we saw the West region (represented by Honolulu, Hawaii) take down the Caribbean region to claim another US title.  

Viewership did dip a bit year over year, however the USA final and championship games still ranked as the third and fifth-most watch baseball or softball games of the year (excluding the MLB ASG and Home Run Derby).  Overall, this event is a blast for the players and viewers alike, and ESPN/ESPN2 are home to many of the games throughout the tournament.  

Also coming up in Q3 will be the beginning of the College Football season. Last year, we saw the University of Georgia put on a 150-0 masterclass that included a 65-7 rout in the National Championship over Texas Christian University. The regular season kicks off with “Week 0” on August 26 with several games being played across Cox Media’s sports networks like ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, Pac12 Network, SEC Network, and CBS Sports Network.  

2022 was a stellar year for ESPN as their networks scored in a big way as they had their best regular season in 5 years.  

Other sports that will either continue or kick off in Q3 include MLB and the NFL. We recently dug deep into the MLB season and looked back at last year’s NFL season on the Cox Media blog, and we’re excited about the months ahead.  

When you’re ready to get your brand in front of any of these audiences, be sure contact your Cox Media rep!