The Los Angeles Dodgers again were part of several ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecasts throughout the 2019 season, perhaps most notably when they faced the New York Yankees in August. ESPN announced that garnered over 2.41 million viewers, good for their second-best telecast.
It was bested by the Yankees facing the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on July 28, which drew 2.42 million viewers. Boston and New York also had the third-best Sunday Night Baseball telecast when they played at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 4 (2.23 million viewers).
Overall this season, the 30th of Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN’s 26-game slate averaged 1.6 million viewers — a two percent increase from last year. The top five local markets for the broadcasts were, in order: Chicago, Hartford, Providence, St. Louis and Boston.
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, their game with the Yankees ended in a 5-1 defeat and series loss. Billed as a potential 2019 World Series preview, the Yankees largely dominated the three games at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers rebounded in their next opportunity to play in front of a Sunday Night Baseball audience, coming back against the New York Mets for a series win at Citi Field.
While the national broadcasts are a bright moment for the sport, Andre Ethier recently lamented them because of the travel complications it can create. The Dodgers experienced that firsthand this season when they wrapped up a series at Coors Field in a Sunday Night Baseball telecast.
L.A. completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies, but then faced a long flight to the midwest. A late arrival in the early morning hours the next day led to an expected loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. That was followed by the Cardinals proceeding to sweep the four games at Busch Stadium.
The Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team of Matt Vasgersian, Alex Rodriguez, Jessica Mendoza and Buster Olney will next call the American League Wild Card Game on, Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 5 p.m. PT.
