Several Major League Baseball teams earned strong numbers locally during the first week of the season.
In Baltimore, the Orioles’ Monday home opener against the Tigers earned a combined 11.98 rating on MASN and CBS affiliate WJZ, up 55% from last year. MASN and MASN2 alone have averaged a 7.72 rating for Orioles games this season (four telecasts), up 32% from last year (5.87).
Over in Kansas City, the Royals’ extra inning win over the Angels on Sunday earned a 5.9 rating on Fox Sports Kansas City, the network’s highest Royals rating in nearly two years. That comes on the heels of a 5.4 for the team’s first game of the season, a network record for a Royals season opener.
Not too far away in St. Louis, the Cardinals’ March 31 season opener against the Padres drew a 13.3 rating on Fox Sports Midwest, the network’s highest rated Cardinals season opener ever. The previous high was a 13.0, set in 2005.
The Phillies also started strong, as their season opener against the Astros drew a 9.9 rating on MyNetworkTV affiliate WPHL, up 43% from last year and a record for an opening day game on the network. Sunday’s game an even more impressive 14.8, the highest rating ever for any Phillies game on WPHL.
Finally, the defending AL Champion Rangers’ season opener against the Red Sox earned a 5.5 rating on Fox Sports Southwest, up 161% from last year (TOR/TEX: 2.1), and the highest rated Rangers season opener since 1999 (DET/TEX: 6.5, KXAS-NBC).
The final two games of the three-game Red Sox/Rangers series drew local ratings of 4.4 and 5.7 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
(Numbers from baltimoresun.com, mlb.com, royalsreview.com, sportsvideo.org, foxsportssouthwest.com, philly.com)
