MLB Opening Night viewership increased on ESPN; Kevin Durant’s return topped the midweek NBA slate; the NIT title game suffered a steep decline.
MLB Opening Night audience grows
Thursday’s White Sox-Astros Major League Baseball Opening Night game averaged a 0.8 rating and 1.64 million viewers on ESPN, flat in ratings but up 20% in viewership from last year’s Reds-Braves opener — which aired on ESPN2 opposite coverage of the Masters (0.8, 1.37M).
Chicago’s win, which peaked with 2.0 million viewers, delivered the largest traditional Opening Day audience since Giants-Dodgers in 2018 (1.97M). That excludes the two COVID-affected seasons of 2020 (which opened in mid-July with a historic 4.01 million viewers) and 2021 (when the Opening Night game was called off at the last minute).
The game was the top sporting event of the night, topping the Celtics’ competing 41-point rout of the Bucks on TNT (1.28M). Last year’s opener was outdrawn by the NBA head-to-head.
Earlier in the day, MLB Network averaged 348,000 for Giants-Yankees — up 7% from Brewers-Cubs a year ago. The same game averaged 533,000 viewers on YES Network in New York, the network’s third-largest audience for a weekday afternoon Opening Day game.
Durant return tops midweek NBA
Wednesday’s Timberwolves-Suns NBA regular season game, marking Suns F Kevin Durant’s return from injury and his Phoenix home debut, averaged 1.46 million viewers on ESPN — down 14% from Suns-Warriors in the same window last year (1.69M). Ratings were not immediately available. Earlier in the night, Mavericks-Sixers drew a 0.9 and 1.44 million (+5%).
The network fared better the prior week, averaging a 1.0 (+20%) and 1.80 million (+28%) for Warriors-Mavericks and a 1.0 (+5%) and 1.70 million (+11%) for Suns-Lakers March 22.
In its return from March Madness hiatus, TNT averaged a 0.7 (-22%) and 1.28 million (-16%) for Celtics-Bucks on Thursday, 1.26 million for Pelicans-Warriors on Tuesday (+33%), 948,000 for Thursday’s Pelicans-Nuggets nightcap (-26%) and a mere 0.41 and 687,000 for Tuesday’s Heat-Raptors lead-in (-31%).
NIT, D-II title games take plunge
The UAB-North Texas men’s NIT Championship averaged a 0.22 rating and 370,000 viewers on ESPN2 Thursday night, down 63% in ratings and 61% in viewership from Xavier-Texas A&M last year, which aired on the ESPN flagship due to the delayed start of the MLB season (0.59, 961K). This year’s audience is the lowest for the NIT title game since at least 2011.
Tuesday’s North Texas-Wisconsin semifinal was considerably stronger at a 0.50 and 868,000 on ESPN, up from Xavier-St. Bonaventure a year ago (0.44, 764K). The UAB-Utah Valley semifinal on ESPN2 clocked in at 303,000, no match for Texas A&M-Washington last year (467K).
In other college hoops action, last weekend’s West Liberty-Nova Southeast Division II title game averaged a 0.6 and 998,000 on CBS — down sharply from last year (Northwest Missouri State-Augusta: 0.9, 1.38M).
(Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 3.29, 3.30, 3.31, ShowBuzz Daily 3.31)
