By Ronald Martinez
Source: www.insideradio.com, May 2023

It’s no secret that Major League Baseball’s flagship stations experience a massive ratings spike when the Boys of Summer return to the ballpark. New data from Nielsen Audio quantifies just how big that listening surge was on Opening Day.

The average MLB radio flagship experienced a 203% increase in 6+ average audience and a 165% surge among Men 25-54 on Opening Day (March 30), when compared to Nielsen’s March PPM survey. The increases were similar when comparing Opening Day to the stations’ Jan-Feb-Mar AQH average: up 198% in Persons 6+ and +160% in Men 25-54.

The data reflects listening to 43 radio stations that are the flagships for the 30 MLB teams. Due to in-market simulcasts and Spanish-language partners, some teams have more than one flagship station.

Of those 43 stations, 13 are FM and 30 are AM. Nielsen’s data shows the AM stations accounted for nearly 60% of the total average audience for Opening Day games among all stations, depending on the demographic. And those AM stations saw significantly higher spikes in audience for Opening Day (and the opening week) compared to the prior survey month or quarter. On average, AM stations saw a staggering average audience increase of 314% among all listeners 6+, and 421% among Men 25-54 on Opening Day, compared to the prior survey month.

While 6+ cume more than doubled on average for the 43 flagship stations on Opening Day, it nearly tripled for the AM stations.

“This data proves that Major League Baseball draws significant radio audiences, more so than any other sport in the U.S.,” Nielsen says.

Two of the biggest gainers were Audacy news/talk KMOX St. Louis (1120) and Bonneville International “Seattle Sports” KIRO-AM Seattle (710). Their Opening Day increases were enormous compared to the month prior, and the uptick lasted into the opening week of the season.

KMOX posted an astounding 1,064% increase in 6+ average audience and a 1,916% spike in Men 25-54 on Opening Day, compared to the March survey. Hordes of Cardinals fans stuck with the station through baseball’s opening week with its 6+ average audience 242% higher during games played from April 1-5, compared to the March survey and 458% higher among men 25-54.

The increases were even higher for KIRO-AM. Its average 6+ audience shot up 3,258% on Opening Day, compared to the March survey, and grew 2,883% in Men 25-54. As with KMOX, Mariners fans kept tuning in for the early April games. KIRO-AM’s average audience for games played March 31-April 5 was 5,657% higher among listeners 6+ compared to March and 787% higher among men 25-54.