NEW YORK: Major League Baseball’s viewer numbers in the United States and Japan during the first two months of the season have seen double-digit increases, MLB and Nielsen reported Tuesday.

ESPN’s coverage is up 22%, averaging 1.74 million viewers. It is the most-watched season on ESPN through the first two months since 2017.

This might be the last year ESPN is carrying baseball after it opted out of its rights deal in February.

The MLB Tuesday package on TBS has a 16% increase. Fox Sports is up 10%, averaging 1.84 million viewers per game.

Last Saturday night’s 18-2 rout by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the New York Yankees averaged 2.2 million on Fox.

The MLB.TV streaming package has seen its viewers increase 27%, with more than 7.5 billion minutes watched through Monday.

Games on the NHK channels in Japan are averaging 2.7 million. The average does not include the Tokyo Series games between the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs which began the regular season.

The ratings are on pace for MLB’s most-watched regular season in Japan as the audience has increased every year since 2021.

On MLB.TV, streaming viewership has increased 27% vs 2024, which was the most-watched season in the history of the service. For games through Monday, June 2, MLB.TV has more than 7.5 billion minutes watched this season.

AP