Hunter Pence # 8 of the San Francisco Giants watches during batting practice before the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
Harry How / Getty Images
Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers, left, and Max Muncy, right, laid hands on Mookie Betts during the national anthem ahead of the inaugural baseball game Thursday, July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles.
Mark J. Terrill / AP
Members of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants kneel during a moment of silence before the opening baseball game on Thursday, July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles.
Mark J. Terrill / APDespite repeated insistence by some that the return of the national anthem protests would cause the MLB television ratings to cease, the two games televised to a national audience on Thursday night set multiple audience records.
According to Nielsen ratings shared by ESPN, the first regular-season game of the season between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals averaged an audience of 4,000,000 viewers, which is a new record for a television broadcast of the game from the MLB opening night. The broadcast was the most-watched regular-season MLB game on any network since 2011.
Additionally, the late game between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers generated an average audience of 2,764,000 viewers, and was the most-watched MLB regular-season game on the net in a slot at 10 p.m. ET. Locally, the broadcast earned a 6.9 rating in the San Francisco market, a number that makes it the highest-rated regular-season MLB game on the SF market since 2013.
The absence of sports during the ongoing pandemic surely increased interest in the return of live sports, although many were poetically angry about how a group of Giants players and coaches who did not represent the national anthem during exhibition games a Earlier in the week would cause MLB opening night ratings to plummet to new lows.
Recent polls show a seismic shift in Americans’ views of the national anthem protests following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. A Yahoo News / YouGov poll found that 52% of Americans now believe it is “appropriate” for professional athletes to kneel during the national anthem, compared to 36% who consider it inappropriate and 12% who are not. safe. In 2016, when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepnernick started to kneel, only 28% of respondents said they approved of the protests, and the other 72% opposed or were unsure.
Eric Ting is a SFGATE reporter. Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @_ ericting
