St. Louisans had BattleHawks fever last Sunday, as the the market had the best local rating for any of the XFL's eight cities in the league's opening weekend. But the key question now — Can that be sustained?
Nielsen, which tabulates viewership, says that 7.4 percent of homes in the market with a TV tuned in to ESPN to watch the local entry grind out a 15-9 road victory over Dallas. Seattle-Tacoma was second (at 6.4), to see that market's team, the Dragons.
The BattleHawks drew the best rating of any sporting event televised in St. Louis last weekend, beating not only a popular PGA event (Pebble Beach), pole qualifying for NASCAR's biggest race (Daytona 500) and all college basketball games, but also the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues.