ESPN Deportes' Coverage of 2017 World Baseball Classic Delivers Strong Ratings

Continuing an upward ratings trend for baseball on ESPN Deportes, the network wrapped up its exclusive Spanish-language coverage of the 2017 World Baseball Classic with the championship game featuring the United States vs Puerto Rico Wednesday, March 22, delivering top ratings. The final marked the largest audience for a baseball game on Spanish-language television and viewing for the overall tournament on ESPN DEPORTES finished up 67 percent from 2013.

Wednesday's final - an 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico to secure the United States its first title - on ESPN DEPORTES delivered a record 364,000 viewers and a 1.6 Hispanic household rating. The simulcast on ESPN2 contributed an additional 397,000 viewers. Streaming audience provided a 4.6 percent lift to the linear telecast. Combined, ESPN Deportes, ESPN2 and the digital streaming audience saw a total cross platform audience of 796,000. The network was the most-watched Spanish-language cable network on the day of the final among Hispanic viewers, out-delivering the closest competitor by 48 percent.

Tournament highlights:

• Overall, the World Baseball Classic delivered a 0.5 Hispanic Household rating, up 67 percent from 2013 (0.3 HH Rtg) and averaged 100,000 Hispanic viewers, up 54 percent from 2013 (65,000 viewers). Throughout the entirety of the tournament (March 6-22), ESPN DEPORTES was the most-watched Spanish-language cable network among Hispanic men, out-delivering its closest competitor by 22 percent.
• Streaming audience: Added a 3.1 percent lift to linear coverage for the entire tournament and a total of 29 million minutes streamed. The final game on WatchESPN generated 197,000 live unique viewers, 8.8 million live minutes viewed and an average minute audience of 35,000, the largest non-soccer Spanish-language streaming audience.
• Rounds 1 & 2 (March 6 - 18): Coverage averaged a 0.4 Hispanic household rating, up 45 percent from 2013.
• Semifinals (March 20 - 21): A 1.1 Hispanic rating and 234,000 Hispanic viewers P2+, up 77 percent from 2013. Streaming audience added a 2.8 percent lift.

Baseball ratings on ESPN DEPORTES have been on a steady increase. The network finished the 2016 MLB season up 16 percent vs 2015. Ratings for the 2017 edition of Serie del Caribe (Feb 1 - 9), were up 33 percent compared to 2016.

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