Over 2 million people watched the Twins get embarrassed by Tarik Skubal

Over 2 million people watched the Twins get embarrassed by Tigers ace Tarik Skubal on Sunday Night Baseball, according to ESPN and Nielsen data.

The broadcast averaged 2 million viewers — up 66 percent from ESPN's Rangers/Orioles broadcast on June 30, 2024 — and peaked at 2.3 million. For the season, SNB is up 11 percent from last year, making it ESPN's most-watched season since 2017.

Those numbers are encouraging for the game of baseball and an argument for putting smaller-market teams on ESPN's Sunday night broadcasts more often. So often, we see the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, and other major-market teams get that time slot and platform. A big national audience got to watch a dominant performance from Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, and a win for the Tigers, who have been one of the best teams in the league since last August.