Pirates Were an Opening Day Success, at Least in NBC's Eyes

MLB's Strong NBC Debut Further Proves League Is More Popular Than NBA

As the sports world debates whether MLB or the NBA is the No. 2 league in America behind the NFL, early returns from NBC’s new MLB package provide a notable data point.MLB’s Opening Day doubleheader on NBC averaged 2.7 million viewers last week. The Pirates-Mets game marked the most-watched Opening Day afternoon game on record with 2.3 million viewers. In the evening, Diamondbacks-Dodgers averaged 3.2 million viewers.For comparison, the NBA is a…

Pirates were an opening day success, at least in NBC's eyes

Paul Skenes and the Pirates moved the needle for NBC in the network’s return to Major League Baseball even if they lost in doing it. The Pirates...

NBCUniversal Touts Largest MLB Opening Day Viewership Across NBC, Peacock

NBCUniversal March 31 said its Major League Baseball opening day distribution of the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks generated a record 2.7 million viewers across NBC Sports, Peacock and Spanish-language Universo, according to new data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. The reigning back-to-back World Series champion … Continue reading "NBCUniversal Touts Largest MLB Opening Day Viewership…

NBC delivers strong gains in first MLB Opening Day broadcasts under new deal

The MLB Opening Day doubleheader on NBC and Peacock delivered strong gains over 2025, averaging 2.7 million viewers across both games. The network’s broadcasts of Pittsburgh at the Mets and Arizona at the Dodgers marked the return of baseball to NBC platforms for the first time since 2000, as well as the debuts of flashy new hires in Jason Benetti and Clayton Kershaw. The Pirates-Mets matinee drew an average of 2.3 million viewers, NBC said, the…