MLB's Field of Dreams game was the most watched regular season game since 2005

Major League Baseball’s move to hold a game at the Field of Dreams turned out to be a smart one.

The game — held in the Dyersville, Iowa, cornfield made famous by the 1989 Kevin Costner movie “Field of Dreams” on Thursday night — between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox turned out to be the most watched regular season baseball game since 2005.

The #MLBatFieldofDreams was the most-watched regular season baseball game in 16 years, with 5,903,000 viewers across FOX and FOX Deportes ⚾️

Chicago and New York ranked as the top two markets, and it was the most-streamed regular season baseball game in FOX Sports history ? pic.twitter.com/EfzfrUUik2

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) August 13, 2021

According to Fox, the game peaked with just more than 6 million viewers just before 9 p.m. ET. The top two networks, naturally, were Chicago and New York — though St. Louis, Hartford and Kansas City weren’t far behind.

White Sox infielder Tim Anderson hit a walk-off two-run homer to give Chicago the 9-8 win, perfectly capping Iowa’s first ever MLB game.

TIM ANDERSON WALKS IT OFF ?

WHAT A GAME ⚾️?

(via @MLBONFOX)pic.twitter.com/PgpC4XPp4l

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 13, 2021

Given its very clear success, it’s no wonder MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wants to return to Iowa in 2022.

“I think the reception that this event has received has been so positive that we will be back,” Manfred said, via MLB.com. “I think it's pretty clear we're going to be back next year and we'll have to talk about it after that. But it's just been so successful that it's hard not to take the opportunity to do it again.”

While repeats may not be able to match the iconic throwback jerseys, nostalgic intro and excitement that went into the inaugural game, even Costner sees how valuable the event can be moving forward.

"It does feel like all the teams are going to want to touch this," Costner said, via The Des Moines Register.

More from Yahoo Sports:

  • Crizer: MLB can learn plenty from Field of Dreams Game success

  • Watson accuser calls out NFL’s investigation of Texans QB

  • Haynes: Kawhi gets 4-year, $176.3M extension with Clippers

  • Thamel: Could SEC help turn tide for COVID in the South?

Source: Read Full Article