The MLB Finals, featuring a 6 seed, averaged 11.78 million viewers on Fox, and 12.03 million combined viewers (Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming), the network said (per The Athletic)
Thursday’s Giants-Cowboys NFL Thanksgiving game averaged a 12.7 rating and 42 million viewers across the Fox Sports family of networks, per Nielsen fast-nationals — marking the largest NFL regular season audience on record (per Sports Media Watch)
Meanwhile, World Cup Soccer (USA-ENG)… was watched by 24.7M people. (via Deadline)
So, at some point, even the staunchest of The Baseball Mafia have to admit that something is wrong here with America’s Former Pastime.
Soccer proved that if you have a Big Event that people will tune in. There was something special about it. And it was 2pm on a day off, so apparently the West Coast Sports Fans AND the East Coast Sports Fans are able to show up if it’s a big event. (I bet yesterday’s Ohio State – Michigan game did well too, at noon.)
Football will be excused away by it being Thanksgiving. Well, guess what, the NFL has successfully created an Event. A lot of the elusive Casual Sports Fans must have tuned in.
Baseball continues to excuse things away. “Baseball is a regional sport” – as if everyone lives in Dallas and that’s why they watch football. “You can’t play in the daytime and get a big rating” except for every event listed here. “Streaming/Netflix/Video Games” – sure, unless there’s an event, like say a SOCCER GAME.
Baseball gave away the younger millennials and all of Generation Z, and are in the process of losing the “me” Generation X crowd with these expanded playoffs and everything else wrong with the sport. I’ve been really thinking bout the expanded playoffs, and I think they are really going to hurt things. I look back to my own behavior last season – I checked out on the regular season because there was nothing to follow. I jumped in around September 25th and was gone, like the Mets, after one round. I compare that to a season like 1985 where every game mattered.
Anyway, if I am baseball and my MLB Finals are getting HALF what a Friday afternoon soccer game is getting, I’d be really worried. You can only pull the “AL Home Run Record” lever so many times guys.
