The Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals might be headed to the World Series, but the Philadelphia Phillies garnered the top local TV ratings in 2011. This season, nearly one-tenth of Philadelphia households—the most of any market—tuned in during regular season, locally televised Phillies games, and more than double (21.6%) of those households tuned in during the playoffs.

In a showdown where rivals become teammates, which team is the most marketable at this year’s MLB All-Star game? A look at the Nielsen/E-Poll N-Scores of the American League versus National League starters revealed the American League comes out swinging with a score of 97 compared to 78.

As Major League Baseball prepares for the first pitch of the new season March 31, two New York Yankees— Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera—are ranked as the two most marketable players in baseball, according to Nielsen and E-Poll’s N-Score ranking.

An analysis of Major League Baseball’s opening week revealed more than half of the local markets outpacing last year’s viewing.

A World Series matchup featuring two of the East Coast’s largest media markets led to some of the highest viewership baseball has seen in five years.

The New York Yankees boasted the most viewers per game during the regular season, while the Philadelphia Phillies’ seasonal viewership was up 25% over 2008.

In his effort to discredit NY Daily News reporter Adam Rubin, Mets General Manager Omar Minaya may have likely given the newspaper a wealth of positive exposure.
On July 22nd, when Rubin first reported that Mets VP of Player Personnel Tony Bernazard challenged players on the team’s minor league affiliate to a fight, the NY Daily News received no spike in online chatter according to Nielsen Buzzmetrics.

Matt Foran, Nielsen Sports
While controversy seems to follow Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez wherever they go, Nielsen Online buzz data reveals that, when it comes to buzz, steroids trump all of their on-field accomplishments. Of all the online discussion over the past year surrounding Manny Ramirez, Internet buzz peaked last week when it was announced Ramirez was suspended 50 games for using performance enhancing drugs.
Buzz For Manny Ramirez

Matt Foran, Nielsen Sports
With Major League Baseball’s opening day fast approaching, big league teams are looking to surpass last-season’s finish and to collect more eyeballs for their advertisers and corporate sponsors.  A look back at the stats from locally and nationally televised games from the 2008 season reveals impressive numbers and teams will hope to carry that momentum throughout the 2009 season… and perhaps the playoffs.
Regional Ratings:
Locally, Boston continued to show the power of Red Sox Nation, with a 10.1 HH AA% on NESN (New England Sports Network), the highest average …

Was 2008 the best sports year ever?  At least in terms of viewer interest, there’s plenty of evidence to support that argument.  Consider these TV sports highlights from 2008:
-The most-watched global event ever (2008 Beijing Summer Olympics: 4.7 billion viewers)
-The most-watched Super Bowl ever (Giants-Patriots, Super Bowl XLII: 97.5 million viewers)
-The most-watched cable broadcast of all time (Cowboys-Eagles, Monday Night Football: 18.6 million viewers)
-The most-watched cable golf event of all time (Tiger vs. Rocco, U.S. Open Playoff: 4.8 million viewers)
-The most-watched cable baseball game ever (Red Sox-Rays, ALCS Game 7: …