Fox Sports Off to Best MLB Start Ever

While fans of the struggling New York Yankees may not agree, the beginning of the 2007 Major League Baseball season has been the best ever as far as Fox Sports is concerned.

With the decision to expand its regular-season baseball coverage into April for the first time, Fox is averaging a 2.7 rating/7 share and 3.95 million viewers for its Saturday games, making this season the network’s most watched in its 12 years of carrying baseball.

The number was buoyed by last Saturday’s coverage of the Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs games that averaged a 2.9/7 and 4.1 million viewers, a 16% increase over last season’s fourth week coverage for the network.

Compared to last season, Fox’s Saturday baseball coverage is up 8% in households, 18% in viewers, and 21%, 20% and 12% in the men 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 demos, respectively.