It looks like baseball fever swept the nation on Thursday. MLB.com said it set a new one-day record yesterday, with 280 million page views across all online and mobile platforms as fans tuned in to follow four potential elimination games in the baseball playoffs: New York/Baltimore; Detroit/Oakland; Washington/St. Louis; and San Francisco/Cincinnati.
The page view total marked a 23% jump over the prior record set on Oct. 3, the last day of the baseball season, with the races for the American League East and West titles going right down to the wire. Usage reached a high between about 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET, when the end of the San Francisco/Cincinnati game overlapped with the start of the St. Louis/Washington game.
On the mobile front, MLB.com saw 6.6 million starts for its At Bat app for smartphones and tablets--the most for a single day, and up 35% from 4.9 million on Oct. 3. MLB.com’s Postseason.tv service, in partnership with Turner Sports, allows iPhone and iPad users to pick from up to 10 camera angles to watch games. (MLB.TV live streaming is only is available to subscribers outside the U.S. and Canada because of broadcast exclusive deals.)
With two Game 5 elimination contests on tap today between New York and Baltimore, and St. Louis and Washington, it should be another strong outing for MLB.com traffic.