The New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry heated up the Nielsens on Sunday night, as ESPN scored its most-watched Major League Baseball game in over four years.
The Aug. 7 Sunday Night Baseball telecast -- won 3-2 by the Bosox in 10 innings -- averaged 3.46 million households and 4.72 million watchers, according to Nielsen data. That marked ESPN's top MLB contest since the teams drew 3.99 million households and 5.3 million watchers on June 3, 2007.
Additionally, the telecast's 3.5 rating tied Yankees/Red Sox on Aug. 9, 2009, as the highest-rated MLB game on ESPN since 2007 -- 4.2 ratings for Yankees/Red Sox on June 3 and April 22. Sunday's telecast averaged a 17.0 metered market rating in Boston and an 8.6 in the New York DMA..
All told, ESPN's SNB has averaged a 1.9 rating, 1.89 million households and 2.53 million viewers this season, up 6%, 7% and 9%, respectively, from a 1.8, 1.77 million homes and 2.32 million watchers in 2010.
