Business

This Year’s World Series Is Least-Watched Ever

November 2, 2023

Topline

The first three games of the World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers have been the least-watched ever for an MLB championship as two relatively unpopular teams see their games trumped in viewership by the football season.

Marcus Semien, No. 2 of the Texas Rangers, bats against the Arizona Diamondbacks during Game 4 of … [+] the World Series.

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Key Facts

The first game, which aired Friday and went into extra innings, was watched by an average of 9.17 million people on Fox, Nielsen data shows, the lowest rated game 1 in the history of the World Series.

The second game a day later, which drew significantly less viewers at 8.15 million, was the least-watched World Series game ever—until game 3.

The third game in the series, which marked the first time the World Series and NFL were both on network TV on a Monday night since 1996, averaged 8.13 million on Fox, according to the Associated Press—ratings for game 4 on Tuesday haven’t been released.

The competing football game, the Raiders against the Lions, was watched by 15.2 million people total across cable and broadcast networks, according to ESPN, with 8.36 million of those watching on ABC alone.

Games 2 and 3 were viewed by fewer people than Game 7 of the National League Championship Series between the Diamondbacks and the Phillies, which drew 8.9 million viewers on the cable TBS network, according to Nielsen data.

Last year’s series had an 11.76 million average viewership, according to ESPN, the 2021 series had an average viewership of 11.75 million and the 2020 series, which included the previously least-watched game ever, averaged 8.34 million viewers.

Viewership for the World Series has been falling since the 1980s—the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Kansas City Royals series in 1980 was the most-watched ever with an average viewership of 42.3 million and the Boston Red Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals series in 2004, one of the most-watched in the last two decades, had an average viewership of 25.4 million.

Surprising Fact

Last Sunday’s episodes of 60 Minutes on CBS drew more viewers than any of the World Series games so far. The episode featured Vice President Kamala Harris, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, singer Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and actor Morgan Freeman. 60 Minutes is typically one of the most watched non-sports programs, including during football season, when CBS airs NFL games immediately beforehand.

Key Background

Industry experts predicted this year’s World Series viewership would be low. Neither team comes from any of the biggest markets in television (New York, Chicago or Los Angeles), baseball has seen a steady decline in popularity over the last decade when compared to football and basketball and this year’s matchup wasn’t one fans were particularly excited about from the get-go. This year’s World Series represents the MLB’s third all-wild card matchup ever, meaning neither of the top-ranked teams (the Orioles and Rays in the American League and the Braves and Phillies in the National League) made the championship. The Rangers and Diamondbacks World Series matchup had 1,750 to 1 odds when betting on the season opened last fall, the Associated Press reported.

What To Watch For

The teams will resume the series in Arizona on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. The Rangers lead the Diamondbacks 3-1 in the series.

Tangent

Last week also marked the start of the NBA’s regular season. The most-watched basketball game of the week was the Lakers v. Nuggets season opener on TNT, which drew 2.8 million viewers. The Suns v. Warriors matchup, also on opening day, was watched by 2.7 million people and the Celtics v. Knicks game the next day had 2.5 million viewers.