• by Wayne Friedman , September 30, 2025

Although Major League Baseball may be behind in many financial metrics of the NFL and the NBA, baseball TV partners posted strong viewership for the regular season that just concluded.

Total viewer impressions from all TV partners grew year-over-year -- up 13% to 12.3 billion (from 10.9 billion), according to estimates from EDO Ad EnGage.

National TV advertising was at $361.4 million -- down slightly, 6%, compared to a year ago, when it was $383.9 million.

Fox Television Network took in a leading $229.1 million in national TV advertising compared to $245.3 million a year ago. In viewing, it gained 9% over a year ago to 2.0 million Nielsen-measured viewers.

ESPN took in $34.4 million in advertising revenue for its “Sunday Night Baseball.”

In 2024, ESPN's ad revenue was at $37.8 million, and the sports network posted a sharp 21% hike versus 2024 to a Nielsen-measured viewership of 1.8 million.

TBS -- via its TNT Sports unit -- had the next-best result with an estimated $63.6 million (vs. $68.2 million in 2024). Viewership rose 29% to 462,000.

Fox’s FSI cable TV network was at $30.1 million (vs. $27.6 million in 2024) and gained 10% to 324,000.

MLB Network took in $3.4 million (vs. $2.9 million the year before). It rose 13% to 261,000.

Games on ESPN2 had $3.23 million ($2.4 million), but viewership data was not available at press time.