Despite the repeated insistence by some that the return of national anthem protests would cause MLB television ratings to crater, the two games televised to a national audience Thursday night set multiple viewership records.
According to Nielsen ratings shared by ESPN, the first regular season game of the season between the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals averaged an audience of 4,00,000 viewers, which is a new record for an MLB opening night game telecast. The broadcast was the most-watched regular season MLB game on any network since 2011.
In addition, the late game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers generated an average audience of 2,764,000 viewers, and was the network's most-watched MLB regular season game in a 10 p.