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.

An average of 14.6 million people watched the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday, the largest audience since the infamous 2002 game in Milwaukee that ended in a tie. Ratings in the game’s host city of St. Louis were especially high with 37% of all TV households tuning in to the game. It was the largest rating for the game’s host city since 2001 when 38.4% of Seattle households tuned in as the game was played in the Emerald City.

MLB HALF-SEASON RATINGS REVIEW
At MLB’s halfway mark, St. Louis again proved its passion for baseball, ranking behind only Boston as the top-rated professional baseball market. While an average of 9.5 percent of Boston households tuned in to Red Sox games so far this season, the Cardinals drew an impressive 7.4 percent of St. Louis homes.

TOP HALF-SEASON MLB MARKET RATINGS

But when looking at percent growth from this time last year, several surprising teams move to the top:

-The Texas Rangers, with one of baseball’s most exciting lineups, are enjoying a 50% increase in viewership in Dallas, the most year-over-year growth for any MLB team.

-The San Francisco Giants lead the NL wildcard thanks to superior pitching, contributing to 27% higher ratings. When Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum takes the mound, their average rating jumps an additional 9%.

-The Kansas City Royals’ ratings are up 23% despite trailing in the AL Central. The Royals’ ratings increase an additional 8% when Sports Illustrated cover boy Zack Greinke starts.

-The league-leading Los Angeles Dodgers showed no ill effects from the absence of Manny Ramirez, both on the field and on TV, where ratings have increased 20%, creating more ratings distance between the Angels, their in-market rivals.

-The Chicago White Sox are up 12% over 2008, and 27% over 2007, as they continue to close the gap on their cross town rival’s rating dominance.

BIGGEST GAIN IN MLB MARKET FIRST HALF RATINGS, 2008 VS. 2009

The Nielsen Company looked back at the four Stanley Cup Finals match-ups that have gone the full seven games since 2000 and in each case, Game 7 was a ratings windfall. For example, games one through six of the 2006 finals between Edmonton and Carolina averaged 2.4 million viewers. Game 7, however, more than doubled that figure with 5.3 million viewers.

In 2003, when the New Jersey Devils finished off the Anaheim Ducks, Game 7 was watched by 7.2 million U.S. viewers on ABC. Not only did the game attract 140% more viewers than the average of the previous six games, but it was also (and still is) the most-watched Stanley Cup Finals game since at least 1992.

The “Game 7″ effect isn’t just limited to the NHL. When Detroit and San Antonio took the NBA Finals to the limit in 2005, Game 7 was watched by 65% more viewers than the series average to date. And in the eight MLB World Series or LCS matchups to go the full seven games, since 2000, Game 7 viewership overshadowed the rest of the series’ averages each time by anywhere from 74% to 94%.

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 study, which analyzed viewership data for some of America’s favorite sports, uncovered that while Major League Baseball and NBA pull in comparable audiences for nationally televised broadcast, when compared to the actual fan base in the United States, the NBA significantly outperformed most of its peers; NBA games were able to get 7.8% of its fans, on average, to sit down and view the broadcast.

The study also highlighted the strength of engagement for the sports. NFL fans, on average, watch over an hour of each televised football event; this was the only sport of the four to have over an hour of engagement per televised event.

Read the full study.

-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.

Take our poll.

The game aired on FOX Wednesday night, between 8:30pm and 10:15pm EDT.  

In comparison, just 29% of Philly households and 23.4% of Tampa Bay households watched Barack Obama’s infomercial in the half hour leading up to what proved to be the Phillies-Rays’ final game.

The half-hour political simulcast — the first of its kind, since Ross Perot ran a political telecast on the eve of Election Day in 1996 — aired on CBS, NBC, FOX, UNIVISION, MSNBC, and NY1 between 8pm and 8:30pm EST.

In the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, 21.7% of all households watched Obama’s telecast.

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” rounded out the top three.

NBC’s and CBS’s telecasts of Sen. Barack Obama’s half-hour political infomercial also made the top 10.

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of just over 15.3 million viewers, while CBS took second place with just over 11.9 million average viewers. NBC and ABC claimed third and fourth places with roughly 7.4 million and 6.9 million average viewers, respectively. Univision and the CW followed in fifth and sixth places with average audiences of roughly 4.7 million and 2.8 million average viewers, respectively.

The first half of Game 5, on Monday night, drew 13.2 million average TV viewers — before a rain delay suspended play in the bottom of the sixth inning.