The Yankees’ ratings renaissance continues. In other news, the Royals are again atop the MLB ratings race, and the U.S. women’s soccer team pulled decent numbers in the recent Tournament of Nations.
Yankees Ratings Up Big Through July
- New York Yankees Major League Baseball games averaged a 3.61 rating on YES Network through the end of July, up 57% from last year (2.30). The team averaged a 3.67 in July itself, the highest average during the month since 2012. The final game of the month, Tigers-Yankees Tuesday night, delivered a 5.01 rating and 446,000 viewers — the highest rated and most-watched program on YES since Derek Jeter‘s final home game in 2014. [YES]
Royals Now Leading MLB Local Ratings
- Royals games are now averaging a 8.4 rating on Fox Sports Kansas City, down 23% from last year (10.9) but the highest average in Major League Baseball, according to the Kansas City Star. The Royals were down to third place among MLB teams in May, but ratings have climbed as the team has returned to playoff contention. Games averaged a 10.8 rating in July, including a season-high 14.3 for Monday’s game against the Orioles. [kansascity.com 8.4]
USWNT Solid in Tournament of Nations
- Last Sunday’s United States-Brazil Tournament of Nations women’s soccer friendly had a 0.36 rating and 643,000 viewers on ESPN2, the most-watched USWNT friendly on cable since U.S.-China in December 2015 — Abby Wambach‘s final game — had 709,000 on Fox Sports 1. In the same tournament, Thursday’s U.S.-Japan match had a 0.30 and 538,000, and the previous Thursday’s match against Australia earned a 0.31 and 474,000 on ESPN. [Programming Insider 7.28, 8.4; ShowBuzz Daily 8.1]
