Half of MLB clubs saw increases in viewership for their Opening Day broadcasts, which is exactly what you’d expect in any given year.
According to a report by Austin Karp in Sports Business Journal, 15 of the 29 U.S.-based MLB teams notched year-over-year viewership gains during Opening Day. In other words, about half of the league went up, while the other half went down.
Among the teams that saw the largest increases were the Los Angeles Angels. The team notched a 196% year-over-year increase after taking full ownership of FanDuel Sports Network West amid the ongoing shutdown of Main Street Sports Group. Karp also notes that the Boston Red Sox posted a 39% year-over-year increase in attendance for its opening three-game series, the best the team has seen since 2018.
No viewership info for the 14 teams that saw year-over-year declines was reported.
Nationally, there does appear to be some momentum behind MLB. NBC’s first primetime broadcast, featuring the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers last Thursday, drew 3.2 million viewers, marking the most-watched Opening Day game since 2020. Netflix, for its part, scored 3 million viewers for its Opening Night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants, which itself would’ve been a record dating back to 2020 if it weren’t for NBC’s game the following night.
In 2026, holding steady might be winning for regional sports networks, as fewer households subscribe to a pay TV bundle with each passing year. Come 2028, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred would like to centralize local broadcast rights for its 30 teams and employ a modern approach that eliminates blackouts and makes telecasts easily accessible for fans. Perhaps then, MLB can expect more than half of teams to start seeing sizable bumps in local viewership.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.