Miami Marlins' television viewership up 38 percent

A Giancarlo Stanton at-bat is enough to draw an audience. And Stanton and the Marlins have been recognized on a national scale, most recently at the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby.

But on a local level, despite heading into the All-Star break six games under five hundred at 44-50, the Marlins' television broadcasts have experienced a 38 percent year-over-year increase, according to a Fox Sports Florida press release. That figure leads all of Major League Baseball regional sports networks when discussing average viewership through the same number of games.

The Marlins' increased audience came during a first half which saw the organization lose reigning National League Rookie of The Year Jose Fernandez and struggle for the end of June and first half of July.

While Miami telecasts may have lost a number of viewers every fifth day because of the loss of Fernandez, those numbers could have increased again as Andrew Heaney was promoted and made his major league debut.

Coming off of a 100 loss season, the Marlins sit seven and a half games out of first place behind the division-leading Washington Nationals. The first half improvement alone may be enough alone to support the increased number of viewers.

Most Popular Game

FOX Sports Florida's most watched game of the season came on the second day of the year. Miami's April 1st 4-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies averaged a 2.5 HH rating, just shy of the network's 2.6 HH rating when the Marlins took on the Braves in July of 2012.

Nathan Eovaldi pitched well in six innings of work, Casey McGehee drove in the winning run, and Steve Cishek earned his first save of the year for the Marlins. Carlos Marmol, Mike Dunn, and A.J. Ramos held a lead for Miami.

Other News and Notes

-Marlins' pre and post game viewership is up 50% from the same period last season, according to the release.

-Miami baseball on Fox Sports Florida averaged 26,612 households over the course of 85 games, up from 20,912 at last year's All-Star break.

-Miami returns home and hosts the Giants for a three game series starting tonight.