BRISTOL, Conn — The pandemic-delayed Major League Baseball opener was the sport’s most-watched regular-season game on any network in nine years.
The New York Yankees’ rain-shortened 4-1 win at the Washington Nationals on Thursday night averaged 4 million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen fast national ratings.
The game peaked at 8:30 p.m. with 4.48 million viewers.
No regular-season game had been viewed by that many since 4.7 million watched Boston beat the Yankees 3-2 in 10 innings on August 7, 2011, also on ESPN.