XFL's Week 5 Sunday Games Average 800K Viewers as Ratings Skid Continues

There was more bad ratings news for the XFL in Week 5. On Sunday, the league had a doubleheader that saw the DC Defenders beat the St. Louis BattleHawks and the Los Angeles Wildcats outduel the Tampa Bay Vipers. 

Per XFL reporter Mike Mitchell, the two games averaged 800,000 viewers:

Coming off a promising start in the ratings for the XFL in Week 1, numbers for the league have gone down in each of the past four weeks. 

By Week 3, the four games averaged 1.61 million, a drop of nearly 50 percent from the first week (3.1 million). That was the first week to feature two games on traditional cable television. The first two weeks had three games air on broadcast networks. 

The Week 4 Sunday games both averaged over 1 million viewers, which included the Defenders at Vipers on ESPN 2. 

In the first matchup, DC won a 15-6 offensive struggle over St. Louis in which the teams combined for five field goals. 

This week's Wildcats-Vipers game was broadcast on ESPN in prime time starting at 9 p.m. ET. Los Angeles sealed a thrilling 41-34 win in the final minute when Jack Tocho picked off Taylor Cornelius' pass from the Wildcats' 7-yard line.