There was no Pujolsmania this time, but opening day for the Cardinals telecaster Bally Sports Midwest nonetheless was a ratings success.
The production, which included the on-field pregame ceremonies beginning at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and continued through the Cards' 10-9 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, drew the largest TV audience for any program in St. Louis since the Super Bowl. BSM's baseball telecast was seen in an average of 133,000 households in the market and averaged 236,000 viewers.
Those figures dipped a bit from last year's home opener, in which Albert Pujols' much-hyped return to the team helped BSM average 140,000 households and 246,000 viewers, but was up over 2019 and 2021 (2020 was the coronavirus-delayed season without fans in attendance at the opener).