- MLB.TV records most-watched 18-day period ever during start of new season
- Minutes watched on platform up 12% on last season and 43% compared with 2019
- Total games watched on MLB.TV also up 22% compared to same stage of the 2020 season
The start of the 2021 Major League Baseball (MLB) season has delivered the most-watched 18-day period on the MLB.TV streaming platform in its history.
The 18 days starting from the opening round of fixtures on 1st April saw fans watch more than 1.34 billion minutes of live games on MLB.TV, which allows subscribers to view out-of-market matches.
That figure represents a 12 per cent increase on the first 18 days of last year’s pandemic hit season, as well as a 43 per cent increase compared to the same period of the 2019 campaign.
In addition, total games watched on MLB.TV are up 22 per cent compared to last season and 34 per cent on 2019.
MLB had already reported that the opening day of the 2021 season was the most-watched in MLB.TV history, as users consumed a total of 121 million minutes on the platform, up 26 per cent on the previous high.
The New York Yankees’ opening day fixture against the Toronto Blue Jays also ranked as the most-watched game of all time on MLB.TV, drawing 47 per cent more viewers than the next most watched game, which was between the Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs in 2018.
The MLB.TV figures after the first three weekends of the season continue the league’s positive start to the campaign on the ratings front. Cable network ESPN reported last week that the viewership for its first two Sunday night broadcasts has been up 33 per cent compared to the 2020 full season average.
