Getting to a sixth game of the World Series was a boon for Fox Sports.
Game 6 of the Cardinals/Red Sox World Series drew a 12.5 overnight rating on FOX Wednesday night, down 9% from Rangers/Cardinals Game 6 in 2011 (13.8), and down 19% from Phillies/Yankees Game 6 in 2009, the most recent Game 6 clincher (15.5).
The 12.5 overnight is the highest of the Red Sox/Cardinals series, topping the previous high of 10.5 for Game 4 on Sunday night. Final ratings for the series have declined between 9% and 14% from the overnight, putting Wednesday’s finale on pace to finish in the 10.7-11.4 range.
In addition, the 12.5 is the third-highest for any Major League Baseball telecast since 2009, trailing only Rangers/Cardinals Game 6 in 2011 (13.8) and Game 7 of the same series (16.2). No other game over that span has drawn even an 11.0 overnight.
The 12.5 is also the third-highest for any non-Yankee World Series game since 2007, the last time the Red Sox won the World Series.
Game 6 will almost certainly finish as the first of the series to earn a double-digit final rating. With that said, Game 6 will not be enough to lift Red Sox/Cardinals to a double-digit average.
The Red Sox’ win earned a huge 55.2 rating in Boston, easily the highest of the series. No other game drew even a 40.0 rating, indicating that there were quite a few in the market who sat on the sidelines until the Red Sox had a chance to clinch.
The 55.2 rating is slightly below the 55.3 for Red Sox/Rockies Game 4 in 2007, when the Red Sox clinched their second title since 1918. Red Sox/Cardinals Game 4 in 2004 — when the so-called ‘curse’ was broken — earned a 59.0 in the market.
Game 6 had a 37.9 rating in St. Louis, down 23% from Rangers/Cardinals Game 6 in 2011 (49.4).
(Wed. numbers from MLB_PR verified Twitter account [1], [2])
