MLB seeing record-high streaming viewership despite All-Star Game backlash

MLB said live games on its over-the-top service, MLB.TV, garnered more than 1.3 billion minutes of streams from opening day, April 1, through April 18. That’s a 12% increase compared with the first 18 days of the shortened 2020 season and up 43% compared with the same time frame for the 2019 season, the league said in a release. MLB’s streaming service allows consumers to view out-of-market games. Fans streamed 121 million minutes of live games on opening day, making it the most-watched day in MLB.TV history. The record high in streaming viewership comes after some political backlash, however.