Yankees have the most numbers, but the biggest increase in TV household impressions…[+] at the All-Star break goes to Texas Rangers (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
Regional sports network viewership is stable during the All-Star break. But given the elimination of linear television subscriptions, the league’s large number of games, and the majority of them winning in prime time, Major League Baseball continues to be a hot property.
The year-over-year (YOY) numbers show that household impressions (HH) (IMP) are very close to what they were during the All-Star break last year. Overall, the league is down -0.38% or flat when rounded. Thirteen of the 29 are showing gains from 2021, while 15 are down. In an extraordinary sign of consistency, the Pittsburgh Pirates see exactly the same number of viewers on AT&TT
Pittsburgh like last year. Toronto Blue Jays numbers are not tracked by Nielsen due to their location in Canada.
Baseball continues to be highly sought after by advertisers given its large inventory of games and near-daily pace that allows products to be covered on ads.
“Our advertising revenue has continued to grow over the past five years at a double-digit CAGR (compound annual growth rate),” said Craig Sloan, COO of Playfly Sports, the company behind Home Team Sports, a company that covers a portfolio of advertisers. in many RSNs, as a subsidiary. “That’s a double-digit year-over-year increase.”
As Sloan notes, baseball sees extremely consistent numbers based on fan loyalty. The household impression figures confirm this, as many viewability gains are lagging behind in the rankings. The Texas Rangers lead with the biggest win. Rangers are seeing a +42% year-over-year increase. They are followed by the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners (+33%), the St. Louis Cardinals (+30%) and the Philadelphia Phillies (+25%).
Perhaps the most important factor in MLB’s popularity with advertisers is how it dominates prime time against broadcast and cable competition. Eleven of 29 No. 1 ranks in their designated market area (Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Astros, Cardinals, Giants, Mariners, Guardians, Padres, Brewers, Royals) and five No. 2 ranks (Braves, Tigers, Twins, Rays , Reds and three No. 3 ranks (Mets, Red Sox, Orioles).
With a scorching record in the standings, the New York Yankees on YES Network see records being broken. Up +13% in HH impressions from this point last year, they have 22,597,400 at the All-Star break. In terms of total viewership, which represents individuals rather than households, through July 12, 19 of YES’s 70 regular season games in 2022 averaged more than 400,000 total viewers in the market area. Designated (DMA) of New York. For all of last season, YES played in 9 regular season games for the Yankees (in 128 total games). Yankees games on YES Network average 347,000 total viewers in the New York DMA, up 22% from the MLB All-Star Break last year. According to projections, YES is set to have its second-best season-to-date delivery in a decade, since 2012.
And it’s not just the Yankees seeing big numbers. With New York’s DMA being the largest in the country and the winning team as well, the New York Mets have a total impression of 15,837,500 YOY, an increase of +12% over last year during of the All-Star break.
