The Kansas City Royals are baseball’s highest rated team at midseason in eight years. In other news, ESPN scored its top Sunday Night Baseball audience in two months, and the MLB celebrity game hit a five-year high.
Royals MLB’s Highest Rated Team at Midseason Since 2007
- Royals Major League Baseball games have averaged a 12.06 rating on Fox Sports Kansas City through the first half of the season, according to Sports Business Journal — up 119% from last year and the highest midseason average for any team since the Red Sox in 2007 (12.08). The year-over-year increase is the second-largest for any team this season, trailing only the Astros’ 347% jump on Root Sports Southwest. The Cardinals (9.23), Tigers (7.22), Pirates (7.01) and Orioles (5.67) round out the top five. (Sports Business Journal)
Cardinals/Pirates Top Sunday Night Game in Eight Weeks
- The Cardinals/Pirates Sunday Night Baseball game drew 2.2 million viewers on ESPN, up 38% from Rays/Tigers last year (1.6M), up 16% from Red Sox/Angels in 2013 (1.9M), and the top Sunday night game in eight weeks — since Tigers/Cardinals in mid-May. Overall, it ranks as the sixth-most watched MLB game on cable this season. (via ShowBuzz Daily)
MLB Celebrity Game Hits Five-Year High
- The 2015 MLB All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game drew a 1.7 final rating and 3.0 million viewers on ESPN Monday night, up 55% in ratings and 82% in viewership from last year, when it aired at Midnight ET (1.1, 1.6M), and up 21% and 36%, respectively, from 2013 (1.4, 2.2M). The telecast ranks as the highest rated and most-watched edition of the game since 2010 (2.1, 3.2M). (ESPN Media Zone)
