The Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers took the second and third spots for cheering on their home teams—from the comfort of their couches. During the regular season 8.9 percent and 7.9 percent of households tuned in, respectively, and they continued to see strong viewership numbers during the playoffs as well. During the playoffs, the Cardinals garnered the highest household rating of any market (26.2%), while the Brewers held onto the third spot.

“The Phillies’ high-profile acquisition of pitching ace Cliff Lee last winter built incredible team buzz and the fans definitely tuned in,” said Stephen Master, VP of Sports, Nielsen.

Just as they did on the field, some teams did better on television this year vs. last year. During the regular season, the Milwaukee Brewers jumped to the third spot after a 63 percent yearly increase in local ratings. The Cleveland Indians saw a whopping 105 percent increase in their local market rating compared to last year, bringing them to the eighth spot in the overall rankings.

In terms of sheer volume of households tuning in, however, no one can beat the New York Yankees. The Yankees had roughly 323,000 local New York City households tune in to their 2011 regular season games and an astounding 918,000 households tune in to their playoff games.

With the World Series starting tonight, Rangers fans will face steep competition against the enthusiastic Cardinals fans. In this year’s playoff games, roughly 26 percent of St. Louis households tuned into the games, while in Dallas, only about 17 percent of households tuned into the locally televised Rangers games.

“Although the AL Rangers are favored to win their first World Series in franchise history, fan loyalty has definitely been stronger in the NL this season. Combining the local ratings for the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Milwaukee rank as the top three markets for tuning in to watch and support their local team.”

“The All-Star roster went through some significant changes, losing major stars including Derek Jeter. On the heels of his 3,000th career hit, Jeter is a powerhouse brand, with an N-Score of 165, just shy of the combined scores for the All-Star starters,” said Stephen Master, VP Nielsen Sports. “With Jeter out of the equation, the playing field has slightly leveled out.”

The N-Score evaluates name, image awareness, appeal and attributes such as sincerity, approachability, experience and influence to determine a player’s endorsement potential.

Methodology
Using the combined research expertise of Nielsen and E-Poll Market Research, N-Score is an in-depth look at a sports figure’s overall endorsement potential, factoring in the attributes and demographic measures that align brands with endorsers. E-Poll maintains a national online panel of 250,000 people age 13 and up. Each individual N-Score National survey is administered to 1,100 people within that panel via the Internet. The sample is representative of the general population based on gender, income, age, and education.

With advertisers spending more than a billion dollars on endorsements each year, a player’s ability to deliver in an ad can be almost as important as his skill at delivering on the field.

“Derek Jeter is on a tremendous run, with each new endorsement raising his profile with consumers. With a score more than three times his nearest competitor, it’s no wonder he’s been the face for Nike, Gatorade, Fleet Bank, Ford, VISA and more,” said Stephen Master, VP, Nielsen Sports. “While many of the players may not have national visibility, locally their brands resonate at a very strong level, with some having local N-Scores almost 10 times that of their national one.”

In the N-Score’s Top 10 Most Marketable Players in Baseball ranking, the Yankees actually snatched three of the top ten spots nationally, with Alex Rodriguez ranking ninth. In fact, the Yankees had as many representatives on the list as the entire National League.

For all of baseball, including current and former players, commentators and owners, a few all-time greats lead the pack. Yogi Berra holds the top spot, with an N-Score of 257, followed by Willie Mays (236) and Cal Ripken, Jr. (228). One noteworthy surprise? Joe Torre beat out his former players—Jeter and Rodriguez—with a score of 207, making him baseball’s fourth most marketable personality.

Methodology
Using the combined research expertise of Nielsen and E-Poll Market Research, N-Score is an in-depth look at a sports figure’s overall endorsement potential, factoring in the attributes and demographic measures that align brands with endorsers. N-Score Local provides this information for athletes within their team’s local market as well as nationwide. Players are defined as Hall of Fame (receiving an N-Score of 200+), Superstar (100 to 199), MVP (50 to 99), All Star (30 to 49) and Starter (less than 30).

An average of over 19 million U.S. viewers watched the six games of this year’s World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, the most since an average of 25.4 million people saw the Red Sox sweep the Cardinals in 2004. Game 4 of the series was also the most watched single World Series game (22.5 million viewers) since 2004.

A legendary 6-RBI game by Hideki Matsui in Game 6 propelled the Yankee DH from a postseason afterthought to World Series MVP. The series-clinching performance resounded throughout the internet as Matsui’s buzz soared across blogs and message boards in the hours after the final out:

Of all the players participating in the World Series, Alex Rodriguez delivered the most buzz. As A-Rod marched through October on his quest toward his first championship ring, his internet buzz was at a level three times higher than any other Yankee or Phillie. Surprisingly, the next-closest player in terms of buzz during the postseason was pitcher A.J. Burnett, who saw his share of ups and downs throughout the playoffs. Derek Jeter’s on-field steadiness translated to the blogosphere with the third-highest buzz of any World Series participant. The most buzzed-about Phillie was second baseman Chase Utley, whose five-homerun performance in the Fall Classic had many wondering if he could take MVP honors back to the losing city.

The top-market Yankees, with almost 20 million viewers in the New York City area (6.5% of the US), boasted the most viewers per game of all MLB teams during the regular season.  In 2009, the Yankees received an average audience of 445,000 viewers on YES in New York . Their following has continued to grow in the playoffs, with an average of 2.1 million New Yorkers tuning into the ALCS on FOX, with nearly 3 million for the decisive Game 6, despite the hometown Giants playing simultaneously on Sunday Night Football.

And the Pinstripes stretch out in all directions beyond New York’s five boroughs.  In Hartford/New Haven and Buffalo, where YES also broadcasts games during the regular season, the Yankees averaged 11.8, and 8.9 household ratings, respectively, during the ALCS on FOX – both well above the Metered Market Average of 7.7.

MLB WORLD SERIES VIEWERSHIP ON FOX SINCE 2001
(Winning team in BOLD)

Meanwhile, Philadelphia may relish the role of underdog on the field, but it is, after all, the fourth largest market (7.4 million viewers) and home to the defending World Series champions.  The Phillies themselves have long played second fiddle to the NFL’s Eagles, and while the city no doubt bleeds Eagle green, there is an increasing amount of red mixed in. The Phillies’ 7.1 household rating this season for games on Comcast SportsNet more than doubled their 2003 average, and was up 25% from 2008.

This year’s playoffs have even seen the Phillies putting up Eagle-esque viewing numbers:  The NLCS averaged a 29.6 household rating in the Philly market, the highest local rating for any team in the playoffs, and up 13% from their 2008 NLCS against the Dodgers.

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.

But during a July 27th press conference announcing the dismissal of Bernazard, Minaya poured fuel on the fire, by accusing reporter Adam Rubin (in attendance) of writing in self-motivation to get Bernazard’s job. The blogs began to boil, and buzz surrounding the Daily News doubled.

On television, national sports channels and local stations in New York ran with the story. According to Nielsen’s Grabix, which tracks over the air audio mentions correlated with minute by minute viewership data; the Daily News was referenced 24 times delivering a total of 41.9 Gross Rating Points (GRPs) in the New York Market on 7/27 — or roughly 3.6 million Gross Household viewers in New York.*

With dollars tight in a down economy and a transforming print industry, bloggers, word of mouth, and news coverage provided organic, free advertising. For the Daily News, the work of one reporter and a memorable press conference brought their paper to the top of the sports news cycle for at least one day.

*The same viewer exposed to multiple programs that mentioned the “Daily News” is counted each time.

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

Ratings Juice

Ramirez’s absence may also impact the Dodgers’ television ratings, since those numbers for Dodgers games are up 35% since Manny was acquired on July 31st of last year.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez also saw a significant online buzz spike in reaction to his steroid scandal.

Buzz For Alex Rodriguez

Love him, hate him, or somewhere in between, it can’t be denied that he delivers eyeballs: His first game back from a hip injury received a 4.8 rating, a 15% increase over their current average on the YES Network.

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 local rating on a regional sports network of any MLB team.   Additionally, the national pastime continues to be as strong as ever in America’s Heartland with the St. Louis Cardinals (7.9), Minnesota Twins (7.2), Milwaukee Brewers (7.0), and Cincinnati Reds (6.8) following as the next highest rated markets.

Several teams also boasted significant increases in ratings on their regional network. Most notably, the Tampa Bay Rays, whose incredible worst-to-first turnaround contributed to an impressive 94% jump over last season’s ratings on FOX Sports Florida.  Other notable increases were the Chicago White Sox (69%), the Cincinnati Reds (39%), and Colorado Rockies (34%).

National Broadcasts

FOX’s Saturday Baseball averaged 2.9 million viewers, with a high mark coming on July 5th when 4.5 million tuned in for Yankees vs. Red Sox or Cubs vs. Cards.  ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball also owed its high point to the Yankees and Red Sox (July 27^th -4.2 million). For the year, Sunday Night Baseball continued to be a staple of primetime cable programming with an average of 2.5 million viewers.

Post-Season

A thrilling post-season was highlighted by the most-watched cable baseball game ever: the Red Sox-Rays ALCS Game 7, with 13.4 million viewers on TBS.  The Rays’ storybook run, however, came to an end at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies in a rain-soaked World Series which averaged an 8.4 HH rating and 13.6 million viewers.

-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: 13.4 million viewers)

-The most-watched NBA Finals in five years (Celtics-Lakers, NBA Championship Series average: 14.9 million viewers)

-The most-watched NHL regular season game in nine years; most-watched finals in five years (Winter Classic: 2.5 million viewers; Stanley Cup, Penguins–Red Wings average: 4.5 million viewers)

-The most-watched Wimbledon final in eight years (Federer-Nadal: 5.2 million viewers)

The surge in viewership could be attributed to the dramatic storylines behind these games and events, but Nielsen’s analysis shows that new technology is enhancing the sports fan’s experience:

-Ratings for sports events are 20% higher in homes with high-definition TV sets vs. total U.S.

-75 million people visited sports websites in October 2008

-11.6 million unique users logged more than 1.2 billion minutes on fantasy sports sites in 2008

-10.6 million U.S. mobile subscribers accessed sports content via the mobile Web in August 2008

View the full report.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in USA Today.

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