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Steve Mitchell - USA Today Sports
Steve Mitchell - USA Today Sports

Cubs vs. Cardinals was highest-rated Opening Night telecast since 2010


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MLB Opening Night on ESPN, in which the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the defending World Series Champion Chicago Cubs 4-3, was the highest-rated Opening Night telecast since 2010, based on metered market ratings from Nielsen. The ESPN telecast delivered a 2.3 metered market rating, up 10 percent from last year, which was a World Series rematch between the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals.

Additionally, the Cubs-Cardinals matchup drew a record Opening Night streaming audience for ESPN. The game generated 20,457,000 total minutes streamed, 321,000 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 91,000 viewers. These metrics were up 94 percent, 59 percent and 78 percent, respectively, from last year’s Opening Night streaming audience.

Last night’s ESPN telecast peaked with a 2.6 rating at 8:45 p.m. ET and again at 9:15 p.m. In St. Louis, the telecast generated a 20.1 rating, which is a record for a regular-season MLB game on ESPN as far as records go back. In Chicago, the game delivered an 8.4 rating, which is the best rating for a regular-season MLB game on ESPN since 2008.

ESPN will exclusively televise the Chicago Cubs home-opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, April 10, at 8 p.m.

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