Ratings Predictions: NLCS Game 7, Lakers & More

Absent the Cubs for the first time in four years, NLCS ratings have unsurprisingly taken a hit. Entering Friday’s Game 6, all five games of the series had declined double-digits to multi-year lows. No game exceeded a 2.8 rating, while every NLCS game during the Cubs’ three-year run had at least a 3.2.

No better way to goose those lagging numbers than with a Game 7, the first in the NLCS since 2012. Ratings are a lock to decline from last year’s ALCS Game 7 in the same timeslot, which involved the Yankees (5.4). Even so, expect a higher rating than any NLCS game last year (Dodgers-Cubs topped out at a 4.0) and the highest rating of the postseason-to-date (the current mark is a 4.2). Prediction: 4.5.

As should surprise no one, interest in LeBron James‘ move to the Lakers has been high. James’ Laker debut Thursday night scored a 55 percent increase in ratings on TNT and topped the five other national TV games this season (each of which declined double-digits).

It is exceedingly rare for the NBA to get a nationally televised game on a college football Saturday. The last time was 2001, when NBC added a pair of games featuring Michael Jordan‘s Washington Wizards. ESPN has been experimenting with the late-night Saturday window as of late, no real risk given the middling numbers Pac-12 football usually draws in that slot. Just last week, a late night Top Rank Boxing card delivered a 1.35 rating, and it is a safe bet that James’ Lakers will draw even stronger numbers. Prediction: 1.9.

The undercard on ESPN’s Saturday night line-up is #5 LSU in a top 25 matchup against Mississippi State. Ratings have increased for all-but-one LSU game this season, and there is no reason to expect that to change after this weekend. Last year’s comparable window – LSU against Mississippi – set a low bar with a 1.1. Prediction: 1.3.

For the first time since the infamous muffed punt game three years ago, Michigan and Michigan State are both ranked entering their rivalry game. Michigan has risen up the rankings to sixth, giving this year’s game major playoff implications. Now in year two of holding Big Ten rights, FOX gets its first opportunity to carry the game, which had a 3.7 rating on ABC in primetime last year. Even in a Noon timeslot, expect similar numbers this time around. Prediction: 3.5.

Patrick Mahomes has made the Kansas City Chiefs a team that people actually want to watch, and the NFL has taken notice. It is no coincidence that Kansas City was part of the league’s first flex scheduling change of the season, their matchup against Cincinnati replacing the originally scheduled Rams-49ers game. Can the hype surrounding Mahomes lead NBC to a sixth straight increase in Sunday Night Football ratings? It will be a tall task; last year’s Falcons-Patriots Super Bowl rematch was on the higher end of last season’s SNF games, with an 11.0. Prediction: 10.7.

CBS gets the Cowboys in its national window for a second straight week, and the network is certainly hoping for better numbers this time around. Last week, coverage featuring the Cowboys’ rout of Jacksonville had just a 10.2 rating, one of the lowest in memory for the late doubleheader window. With Dallas facing a traditional rival this week, the numbers should be much better. Last year’s first meeting between Washington and Dallas had a 12.7 rating on FOX. Prediction: 12.4.

The NFL continues its recent tradition of early morning games from London as the Chargers host Tennessee bright and early Sunday. L.A. is 4-2 and the Titans 3-3, but both teams have flown under the radar thus far. The NFL is never going to schedule primetime-level games for 9:30 in the morning, but it is a tough sell to ask people to wake up early for a game that might otherwise go to 15-20 percent of the country. Last year’s lone London game on broadcast television, Saints-Dolphins on FOX, had a 4.0 rating. Prediction: 3.6.