MLB Opening Night hit a five-year high in the metered markets.
The Cardinals/Cubs MLB Opening Night game earned a 2.1 overnight rating on ESPN2 Sunday night, up 40% from Dodgers/Padres last year and Rangers/Astros in 2013 (1.5 both years), and the highest overnight for the season opener since Yankees/Red Sox in 2010 (2.4).
The Cardinals’ shutout win was the first Opening Night telecast to air on ESPN2 since that 2010 game. Over the past seven seasons, the three Opening Night games on ESPN2 have earned between a 2.1 and 2.4 overnight, while the four on ESPN have topped out at 1.8.
It would seem that airing on ESPN2 over Final Four weekend is a better option than airing on ESPN either midweek (2011 and 2012) or during the Elite Eight (2013 and 2014). Head-to-head, Opening Night topped the Women’s Final Four doubleheader by 40% (2.1 to 1.5).
Locally, the opener earned a 17.7 rating in St. Louis — the market’s highest ever for an MLB telecast on the ESPN family of networks. It drew a 7.6 in Chicago, the market’s best on the ESPN networks since 2010.
(Sun. numbers from ESPN Media Zone)
