Major League Baseball got the full NASCAR experience in its trip to Bristol Motor Speedway, and that meant a rain delay dragging down the audience.
The Braves-Reds MLB Speedway Classic from Bristol Motor Speedway (Tenn.) averaged 1.6 million viewers across Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, according to FOX. The game was delayed more than two hours on Saturday night and eventually postponed to Sunday afternoon due to rain.
Rain delay coverage Saturday night averaged 1.8 million. The live game portion of Saturday night — all 50 minutes of it — peaked with 2.4 million, Fox said.
By comparison, FOX the previous Saturday night averaged 2.02 million for its usual MLB regional window.
As a result of the postponements, the Speedway Classic ranks behind other MLB ‘special event’ games in recent years. Last year’s Giants-Cardinals Negro Leagues tribute at Rickwood Field averaged 2.35 million, the most recent Yankees-Tigers Little League Classic averaged 2.2 million, and the “Field of Dreams” game — from the site of the feature film in Dyersville, Iowa — averaged 5.9 million in 2021 and 3.1 million in 2022.
The Speedway Classic was not even the top MLB telecast of the weekend, as the latest edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (Tigers-Phillies) averaged 2.03 million — up 72% from last year’s Cardinals-Cubs game, which aired opposite the Olympics (1.18M).
The Phillies‘ win, which also peaked with 2.4 million, delivered the third-largest audience of the season on ESPN. AL Central-leading Detroit has now played in two of the top four, with their matchup against the Twins earlier this summer placing fourth.
Sunday night games are now averaging 1.68 million, up 7% from last year and the highest average since 2017.
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