ESPN’s broadcast of a Padres-Dodgers Sunday Night Baseball matchup this past Sunday hit a multi-year viewership milestone for the network.
The game averaged 1.961 million viewers, the most-watched Sunday Night Baseball game *not* involving either the Yankees or Red Sox since 2018.
ESPN is enjoying a 20% increase in MLB viewership, albeit through just four games, this season. The increase comes despite no Red Sox or Yankees games on the slate so far. In fact, the teams will make just one appearance between them through Memorial Day (Cubs-Red Sox on April 28) until the Yankees host the Dodgers on June 9.
ESPN will also air its first Yankees-Red Sox game of the year on June 16. The teams also have Sunday games against each other on July 7, July 28, and September 15.
Additionally, the Yankees will play the Tigers in MLB’s Little League Classic on August 18 in Williamsport, PA.
The increase in Sunday Night Baseball viewership (again, through a small sample) despite the lack of Yanks-Sawx is impressive. The four games featured the reigning World Champion Rangers twice, along with a pair of appearances from the Dodgers and one apiece from the Cubs, Cardinals, Astros, and Padres.
MLB and its broadcast partners have relied on the Yankees and Red Sox to carry its national viewership for a couple of decades now, despite both teams faltering on the field over the last several years. And while a four-game sample on one network doesn’t signify a massive shift in the strategy of those broadcasters, and the national fanbase’s acceptance of other teams and players, it’s an encouraging step in the right direction.
[ESPN]
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.