The 2025 MLB season kicked off around the league with a ten-game slate on Thursday. Two of those games were on ESPN. From a viewership perspective, both were a big success.
The first broadcast of Opening Day, a matchup between the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Brewers featuring Joe Buck’s one-off return to baseball broadcasting on a national scale, marked the largest National Opening Day audience for a game since 2018 with an average of 1.93 million viewers tuning into the game, according to an ESPN press release on the matter.
Later on in the day, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Detroit Tigers also took the field for the first time on American soil this season. ESPN’s broadcast of that game brought in an average of 1.74 million viewers, a 10 percent increase in year-over-year viewership from the 2024 matchup between the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers in the same timeslot.
ESPN delivers big audiences for MLB #OpeningDay 2025!
⚾ #ThisIsMyCrew vs #RepBX: Most-watched national Opening Day game in 7 years (1.93M avg., 2.23M peak)
⚾ #RepDetroit vs #LetsGoDodgers: Up 10% from last year’s comparable game (1.74M avg., 2.20M peak)
More:… pic.twitter.com/w1E9KNWbPQ
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) March 28, 2025
This could very well be the last year of Opening Day coverage on ESPN after the network opted to opt-out of its media rights deal with the MLB. This opt-out means that, barring a new deal, 2025 will be the final year that live MLB will appear on the network.
Despite ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro claiming that the network is open to reengaging in talks about a new media rights deal, the two sides appear to be further apart on that possibility than ever, with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred recently airing his grievances about the relationship between MLB and ESPN over the past few years.
If there is still any hope that the two sides opt to come together on a new deal, this rise in viewership on Opening Day certainly should help both sides feel better about a potential long-term partnership. And if this does end up being the final year of MLB coverage on ESPN, it is at least a good note to go out on.
