ESPN.com:  Strasburg’s Next Start Helps Indians

Adding up the Strasburg revenue stream is going to take some work:

Strasburg’s debut also produced record ratings for MASN, the cable network that carries the Nationals’ games.

The network said preliminary Nielsen ratings show the game earned a record high 7.1 household rating among more than 165,000 households in the Washington region. “For a Tuesday night in June against the Pirates, these ratings are simply stunning,” MASN spokesman Todd Webster said.

The Nationals have struggled to draw television fans since the franchise moved to Washington in 2005. Games averaged a meager 8,000 households just two years ago—the fewest by far for any team in the majors.

MASN says Nationals ratings are up 66 percent so far this year.

The network said its previous high ratings mark was set in 2007, when Barry Bonds broke Henry Aaron’s career home run record against the Nationals.