MLB First Rivalry Weekend Saw Rise In Attendance, Viewership, Merch Sales
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 03:58PM By Barry Janoff
May 20, 2025: This past weekend, MLB staged its first official Rivalry Weekend presented by Booking.com.
Safe to say there will be more to come.
According to MLB, the four days of rivalries May 15-18 — which included the Subway Series, Freeway Series, Silver Boot Series and the Vedder Cup — saw a rise in attendance, viewership, streaming engagement and merchandise sales.
With a total attendance of 1,608,475 and average attendance of 35,744, Rivalry Weekend was MLB’s best-attended weekend prior to Memorial Day Weekend since 2012 on both measures.
Sunday’s New York Mets vs. New York Yankees Subway Series game averaged 2.539 million viewers on ESPN, making it the most-watched Sunday Night Baseball game in seven years (2018).
Saturday’s Atlanta Braves vs. Boston Red Sox game on Fox averaged 1.906 million viewers, marking a +74% increase over last year’s MLB on Fox game.
Total merchandise sales increased +45% during Rivalry Weekend across the Fanatics network of sites — including all clubs on MLBShop.com — in comparison to the same weekend last year, according to MLB.
The most popular merchandise was the debut of the Green Monster-inspired Boston Red Sox City Connect uniforms. Financial figures were not shared.
MLB also celebrated Armed Forces Day May 17, with players wearing service-inspired caps and camouflage Stance socks May 16-18.
MLB said 100%
of the licensed MLB royalties from the sale of Armed Forces Day On-Field Authentic Collection apparel is donated to MLB Charities to support military programs, contributing to the weekend's attendance, viewership and sales.
Views on MLB’s social media accounts increased +42% compared to last year, and social engagements on MLB platforms increased +37% compared to last year.
Reigning NL MVP Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the most discussed player across social media as he faced his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, in the Freeway Series.
Juan Soto of the Mets was the second-most discussed player across social media as he returned for the first time to play his former Yankees teammates in the Subway Series.
Three of the ten most-engaged MLB Instagram posts also came from the Subway Series.
Pittsburgh Pirates Paul Skenes facing Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper was the second-most engaged post on Instagram.
A new addition to the season’s calendar, Rivalry Weekend featured 11 series between prime Interleague rivals and four other regional match ups.
The Silver Boot Series was between Texas teams Houston Astros and Texas Rangers.
The Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres have joined with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Pearl Jam's frontman Eddie Vedder to play annually for the Vedder Cup.
They have faced each other since interleague play began in 1997 in what has essentially been a self-proclaimed rivalry, in concert with MLB.
The Mariners-Padres games have unofficially been referred to as the Vedder Cup since it was conceived tongue-in-cheek via social media by Padres’ fans in 2011.
The premise behind the Vedder Cup is that Vedder lived in both San Diego and Seattle.
The move creates a real Vedder Cup trophy, featuring a guitar provided personally by Vedder, frontman for group Pearl Jam.
Perhaps of more importance, as part of the annual series, the Mariners and Padres supports EB Research Partnership.
The non-profit charity co-founded by Eddie and Jill Vedder in 2010 is dedicated to ”funding research to discover treatments and cures for Epidermolysis Bullosa, a group of devastating and life-threatening genetic skin disorders that affect children from birth.”
Games Of Note: Padres, Mariners Stage Rivalry To Play For (Eddie) Vedder Cup
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