Attendance for Major League Baseball was down in for 2018 for the regular season, but that’s not the case when it comes to one critical facet of television. Ratings for MLB games in primetime on the regional sports networks (RSNs) that host them show them up slightly for the 2018 regular season compared to 2017. The numbers include the 29 U.S.-based RSNs covered by Nielsen. Due to being in Canada, the Blue Jays are not measured by Nielsen and therefore not included. The Nielsen data was provided to Forbes through FOX Sports and covers March 29 - September 30, 2018.
More importantly, baseball continues to rank incredibly strong in the television ecosphere compared to other content in primetime during the spring and summer months. Twelve of the regional sports networks that host MLB teams rank #1 in their market in primetime, beating the primetime average of all other TV networks in their respective designated market areas (DMA). Half of those teams air on FOX Sports regional sports networks (Cardinals, Indians, Brewers, Royals, Yankees and Diamondbacks). An additional eight MLB teams (20 total) rank in the top 3 in primetime.
And when looking at pay-TV, baseball does better still. Twenty-four of the RSNs hosting MLB teams rank #1 on cable TV in their market in primetime. Baseball ranks #1 in cable prime in every U.S. MLB market except Miami on the regional sports networks .
All told, MLB saw ratings increase by 2%, and average households increase by 1% compared to 2017.
Leading the ratings this year were the St. Louis Cardinals with an average 8.05 rating, an increase of 4% over 2017’s 7.75 rating on FOX Sports Midwest. The Cardinals were followed by the Boston Red Sox on NESN (7.26 rating, a 26% increase over 2017), the Cleveland Indians on Sports Time Ohio (6.85 rating, down 26% from last season), and the Milwaukee Brewers on FOX Sports Wisconsin (5.95 rating up 41% from 2017).
At the bottom of the ratings, the Chicago White Sox were the only team on an RSN to have an average rating below 1 (a 0.68 on FSN Chicago, a 23% drop from 2017). The White Sox were followed by the AL Wild Card Oakland A’s on NBC Sports California (a 1.07 average rating, up 77% from 2017), the Miami Marlins on FSN Florida (a 1.08 average, down 19% from last season), and the Los Angeles Angels on FOX Sports West (a 1.50 average rating, up 35% from 2017).