Sunday night’s Royals-Angels telecast on ESPN was a big one for the network, drawing the largest local rating in six years. Sunday Night Baseball earned a 19.8 rating, according to Nielsen, the highest number an ESPN regular-season game telecast has ever drawn — for pro or college sports — in the Kansas City market.
As demonstrated by this year’s All-Star Game voting, Kansas City is certainly putting major support behind the Royals, coming off last year’s World Series appearance. The team has continued its success this season, compiling the best record in the American League. Sunday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over the Angels pushed the Royals to a 71-46 mark and 12.5-game lead over the Twins in the AL Central.
The 19.8 mark also is the best local rating for a Sunday Night Baseball telecast since Apr. 26, 2009, when a Yankees-Red Sox game drew a 20.9 in the Boston market.
Nationally, the Royals-Angels telecast earned a 1.3 overnight rating, marking a 30 percent increase from the Nationals-Braves game shown roughly a year ago (Aug, 10, 2014). That broadcast drew a 1.0 rating.
Per ESPN’s Ben Cafardo, Kansas City gets another chance to provide ESPN with a big local rating on Sept. 13, when the Royals play the Orioles on Sunday Night Baseball for their third appearance of the 2015 season.
[ESPN]
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