ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball held up well against the NBA Finals. In other news, MLB on FOX fell double-digits over the weekend, and the U.S. men’s soccer team returned from hiatus with an increase.
Cards-Cubs Holds Up Well Opposite NBA
- Despite facing a highly rated NBA Finals game, Cardinals-Cubs earned a 1.1 final rating and 1.8 million viewers on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball over the weekend — up 38% in ratings and 31% in viewership from Giants-Cardinals last year (0.8, 1.4M) and up 22% and 26% respectively from Cardinals-Dodgers in 2015 (0.9, 1.4M). It was the sixth of nine SNB windows to increase from last year. On Monday, Nationals-Dodgers averaged 417,000 across ESPN and ESPN2. Most of the game aired ESPN2 due to extra innings in the Women’s College World Series, netting 304,000 through 12:42 AM. The brief portion that aired on ESPN averaged 870,000 from 12:40 through the conclusion.
MLB on FOX Down Double-Digits
- Regional Major League Baseball action featuring Red Sox-Orioles in 49% of markets earned a 1.3 final rating and 2.1 million viewers on FOX Saturday night, down 19% in ratings and 16% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.5M) and down 19% and 15% respectively from 2015 (1.6, 2.5). It was the lowest rated and least-watched of the network’s four MLB windows this season. On Fox Sports 1, Braves-Reds had a 0.31 (+35%) and 513,000 (+62%).
USMNT Returns From Hiatus With Increase
- Saturday’s United States-Venezuela men’s soccer friendly earned 492,000 viewers on Fox Sports 1, up 75% from the team’s previous match, a World Cup qualifier against Panama in March that aired on beIN Sport (278K), and up 46% from their previous friendly against Jamaica on FS1 in February (338K). Compared to the same date last year, when the U.S. played its Copa America opener against Colombia, viewership was unsurprisingly down substantially from 1.3 million.
