In other words, the data we do have available showing league-wide viewership may not have been adversely affected. Based upon the 25 metered MLB RSNs for 2020 in the U.S., viewership was up 4.2% for the 60-game regular season based on P2+ (people ages 2 and up) from the start of the season on July 23 through September 27. The median 2018 salary in the majors, which might be a more accurate depiction of what players make, was $1.5 million. Please contact us to get started with full access to dossiers, forecasts, studies and international data. As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic. Of baseball’s other top ten markets, the first half viewership is a mixed bag. With big markets returning to the playoff picture in '15, all national TV partners saw viewership gains, and 17 of 30 MLB clubs saw gains on their respective RSNs. MLB: Average Viewership: NBC’s Sunday Night Football 18.175 million: 2.05 million: ESPN’s Monday Night Football 10.757 million: Thursday Night Football (NBC/CBS/NFL Network) 10.937 million: Average Attendance: 17,253,425 total: 72,670,423 total: 67,396 people per game: 29,905 people per game: Ratings: From 2.9 million to 5.5 million viewers for Week 17 games The Phillies are up 20% to a 4.19 on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The Padres were likely up. In addition, because Nielsen moved to track people who are mobile, the total number of traditional TV households has dropped. They were followed by the Baltimore Orioles (36,701 per game, down 12% from 2019) and the Oakland A’s (up 108%, but just to 44,257 per game). Overall, with a very wide opening pitch by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Thursday’s soggy opener was the most-watched pro baseball game since 2011, hitting a peak of 4.5 million viewers … Profit from additional features by authenticating your Admin account. Based upon the 25 metered MLB RSNs for 2020 in the U.S., viewership was up 4.2% for the 60-game regular season based on P2+ (people ages 2 … Other prior written work of mine can be found at Variety, USA Today, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and Fangraphs. Forbes. While not factored into the Nielsen numbers because Canada is not tracked by the company, viewership in the country was exceptionally strong for 2020, according to SportsNet. You may opt-out by. The biggest viewership growth from last year’s data came in the 18-to-34 age group, which saw a 53% change (13,171 average, compared with 8,583 last season). Major League Baseball started its Covid-19 regular season Thursday night with a record average 4 million viewers, the most-watched regular-season MLB game … Are you interested in testing our corporate solutions? moved to track viewers not just at home but also digitally. 1) New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox on July 28: 2,428,000 viewers; In addition, carriage changes will continue. So as with so much else in 2020, the question of whether viewership was up, down or sideways requires some guesswork. The football game, also a blowout, a … That’s the reason NBA games are played in arenas and NFL games are played in stadiums. The epic Super Bowl between the Patriots and Seahawks was also the highest rated in nearly 30 years, with 49.7% of households tuning into the big game. But as we’ll see, those numbers don’t paint the true viewership picture. MLB regional sports network viewership numbers for 2020. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. This provides a window into true viewership, something that’s been missing for some time as mobile via over-the-top (OTT) has become a large part of the equation. A key win for MLB and the networks is seeing growth across age demos. By this date in 2019, 15 college football games averaged at least a 3.0 ratings. As noted, total television households dropped with the change in how Nielsen is capturing viewership, and with that, ratings dropped. The Regional Sports Networks that broadcast local games rank No. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Welcome to another chapter in the long, strange trip that is 2020. The baseball game, which turned into a 16-1 Boston rout, attracted 4.41 million viewers. In terms of the largest average viewership increase, the Chicago White Sox led the way with growth of 136% (90,708, compared with 36,040 in 2019), followed by the Oakland A’s, up 108% (44,257, compared with 21,232 last year); the Los Angeles Dodgers, who reached a deal for carriage on DirecTV earlier in the year and came in third with an 84% increase (233,939, compared with 126,862 in 2019); and the San Francisco Giants, who saw a 42% increase (86,008, compared with 60,573 last season). While some may see the 4.2% increase in measured viewership as nothing to get excited about, Major League Baseball continues to look exceptionally strong when you consider how it sits against overall broadcast television consumption, which is down 24% year-over-year. Chart. FOX was originally supposed to air the Cardinals-White Sox MLB “Field of Dreams” game from Iowa on Thursday, but that was called off. In an era where fewer and fewer people are even watching television and ratings for the Olympics are down 25%, seeing an increase in viewers is a plus for Major League Baseball. facts. You need at least a Single Account to use this feature. 2020 National Sportswriter Of The Year nominee. and over 1 Mio. 2020 Natl Sportswriter Of The Year Nominee, BBWAA, MLB, Motorsports, will look to the postseason, such as World Series that will be site-neutral at Globe Life Field in Texas. The Chicago Cubs started their own regional sports network this year (Marquee), which affected their numbers. While the Cleveland Indians had the highest rating number for 2020 (6.61), compared with a 2.50 rating for the New York Yankees, the Yankees saw their viewership average 118,739 more per game. As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail. Available to download in PNG, PDF, XLS format, Access to this and all other statistics on 80,000 topics from, Due to being in Canada, the Blue Jays are not measured by Nielsen and therefore not included, MLB: World Series championships won by team 1903-2020, Major League Baseball - payroll (opening day) by team 2020, Major League Baseball (MLB) minimum player salary 2003-2020, Revenue of Major League Baseball teams 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez). Overall, the league saw a 11% decline in ratings compared with a 4.2% increase in viewership. Thursday’s Brewers-Cubs Major League Baseball game averaged 1.59 million viewers on FOX, topping only the previous week’s telecast (1.49M) as the network’s least-watched primetime MLB window since 2016. Now, the league ... [+] will look to the postseason, such as World Series that will be site-neutral at Globe Life Field in Texas. Most of the ball is handmade, such as the stitching. Then you will be able to mark statistics as favourites and use personal statistics alerts. Teams will ebb and flow in how they are performing in the standings, and there could be an extra impact next season after MLB moved to 16 teams in the playoffs for 2020, with clubs like the Marlins and the Reds making the postseason for the first time in a considerable period and teams like the Brewers and the Astros backing their way into the playoffs. In a season unlike any other, Major League Baseball saw viewership increase while ratings were down because of a lower number of households being tracked. The average four-game viewership of 401,000 was up from its 2019 regular-season ... per ESPN. Register in seconds and access exclusive features. “The home team viewership on regional sports networks did not come as a surprise to us,” says Craig Sloan, executive vice president at Home Team Sports. Some fans of the game … WWE Raw Results: Winners, News And Notes On March 8, 2021, Washington Football Team Places Franchise Tag On Guard Brandon Scherff, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund Joins The Race For A Stake In FC Inter, What Skip Bayless’ Massive Payday Says About Future Of Sports TV, From Kicks To Cards: Sneaker Artist ‘Kickstradomis’ On Building Up And Branching Out, AEW Revolution 2021 Results: Kenny Omega And The Winners, Losers Of Explosive PPV. October 15, 2019. The problem is, not all of MLB’s regional sports networks are part of the paid service now provided by Nielsen. Prior to its final game yesterday, MLB on TBS average viewership increased +10% over last season. The NFL is in a similar situation - the average game viewer is 47 years old and fans of professional hockey are also about 50 years old, according to MarketWatch . The Royals and the Brewers likely saw viewership decline. The 60-game shortened season bumped into the NBA and NHL trying to get their seasons completed with part of their postseasons overlapping. ", Forbes, Major League Baseball primetime TV viewership on regional sports networks in 2019, by city (in 1,000s) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/251536/average-tv-viewership-of-selected-major-league-baseball-games/ (last visited March 09, 2021), Major League Baseball primetime TV viewership on regional sports networks in 2019, by city, Total revenue of Major League Baseball 2001-2019, Average revenue per team in MLB 2001-2019, Average operating income of Major League Baseball teams 2005-2019, Operating income of Major League Baseball franchises 2019, Gate receipts of Major League Baseball (MLB) 2009-2019, Annual amount of luxury tax paid in Major League Baseball 2003-2020, Most valuable sport team brands worldwide 2020, Average team valuation in Major League Baseball 2002-2020, Franchise value of Major League Baseball teams 2020, MLB league and teams sponsorship revenue 2010-2020, TV ratings of the most watched MLB games 2019, Baseball World Series TV ratings in the U.S. 2000-2020, MLB World Series TV viewership in the U.S. 2000-2020, Primetime local TV viewership of Major League Baseball games 2019, Total broadcasting rights of the MLB by sector in 2019/20, Number of participants in U.S. high school baseball 2018/19, by gender, Share of participants in children's baseball in the U.S. 2019, MLB interest level in the U.S. as of 2020, MLB interest level in the U.S. as of 2020, by age, MLB teams - number of twitter followers 2020, Construction costs of MLB stadiums built since 2000, Total attendance at Major League Baseball regular season games 2006-2020, Average total home attendance per team in Major League Baseball 2020, Regular season home attendance of Major League Baseball teams 2019, MLB average per game attendance 2009-2020, Average ticket price in Major League Baseball 2006-2020, Average ticket price for an MLB game by team 2020, MLB Competitive Balance Tax payroll threshold 2017-2021, Average player salary in MLB by team 2019, Major League Baseball average player salary 2003-2020, Highest salaries in Major League Baseball 2020, Major League Baseball - highest paid players 2021, MLB players on opening day rosters 2013-2020, TV viewership Major League Baseball on ESPN 2019, TV viewership of the most watched MLB games 2019, Gender breakdown of MLB television audience in 2013 regular season, Distribution of MLB regular season TV audience by ethnicity 2013, Age breakdown of MLB TV audience during 2013 regular sesason, Distribution of MLB television audience during 2013 regular season, by income, Average NCAA football TV viewership by conference, NCAA basketball March Madness TV viewership selected games 2014, NCAA basketball March Madness TV viewership selected games 2013, TV viewership National Football League selected games 2011, Average NCAA basketball TV viewership by conference 2011, TV viewership of selected National Football League games 2012, Average TV viewership of selected NCAA football games 2017, Women's World Cup interest levels in the U.S. 2019, by gender, TV viewers of TLC (The Learning Channel) in the U.S. 2018, by age, State of the Union address - number of viewers 2020, by channel, Household value from free-to-air commercial TV in the UK 2014, Number of viewers of the FIFA Women's World Cup matches in Sweden 2011-2019, Likelihood of watching live TV holiday specials in the U.S. 2018, Major League Baseball primetime TV viewership on regional sports networks in 2019, by city (in 1,000s), Find your information in our database containing over 20,000 reports, Tools and Tutorials explained in our Media Centre. (October 15, 2019). 1 in primetime on cable in 24 of the 25 MLB markets in the U.S. MLB's 13-game exclusive series of YouTube broadcasts averaged 1.2 million live views per game. The All-Star game might have lost a couple million, but MLB stands to have an increase locally about 10 times that amount. The biggest ratings drop was by the Boston Red Sox on NESN (a 58% decline—2.14, compared with 5.15 in 2019), followed by the Los Angeles Angels on FOX Sports West (a 40% decline—a 0.78 rating, compared with 1.29 last season) and the Seattle Mariners on ROOT Sports NorthWest (a 38% decline—a 2.17 rating, compared with 3.49 in 2019). A look across the board for MLB viewership during the regular season shows a positive trend -- both nationally and locally. • Sunday's Game … Of the viewership data provided by Home Team Sports, a division of FOX Sports, four U.S. club RSNs have ratings numbers this year, but not viewership because of the metering constraints: the Kansas City Royals (ratings down 9% with a 4.61 compared to 5.08 in 2019), Cincinnati Reds (down 18% with a 4.67 rating compared to 5.72 last season), Milwaukee Brewers (down 35% with a 4.26 rating compared to 6.53 in 2019) and San Diego Padres (up 37% with a 5.55 compared to 4.05 last season). Viewership for Major League Baseball on regional sports networks were up for 2020. When we get a normalized schedule and normalized measurement, then we’ll have some more definitive answers. For example, in American football, per-game home attendances for the highest level of competition, Division I FBS, in the 2018 season ranged from 15,458 for Mid-American Conference teams to 73,994 for Southeastern Conference teams. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present comprehensive analysis of World Series television ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research, broadcast network data, and shares for every Major League World Series where data is available (since 1968). The Dodgers increased their reach. A paid subscription is required for full access. Most Super Bowl wins by NFL team 1967-2021, Average ticket price for an NFL game by team, FIFA world ranking men's national soccer teams 2020, Athletic footwear global market share by company, Health & Fitness Clubs - Statistics & Facts, Sporting Goods Industry - Statistics & Facts, Research expert covering sports and video gaming, Profit from additional features with an Employee Account.