Sports TV ratings are down virtually across the board, and the MLB Postseason is no exception.
Through 14 games, the Major League Baseball Division Series has averaged approximately 1.67 million viewers across TBS, FS1 and MLB Network — down 37% from the same number of games last year (2.70M).
Thursday’s Rays-Yankees ALDS Game 4 ranks as the most-watched game of the round — and postseason — with 2.75 million on TBS, down 18% from Dodgers-Nationals Game 3 on night four of last year’s LDS, a Sunday (3.34M). The Rays-Yankees series accounts for the four largest audiences of the LDS thus far, with Game 2 on Tuesday second (2.61M), Wednesday’s Game 3 third (2.39M), and Monday’s Game 1 fourth (2.33M). Friday’s Game 5 will almost certainly make the series five-for-five.
None of the ten other Division Series games managed to crack the two million viewer mark. By comparison, only two of last year’s 18 total LDS games averaged fewer than two million.
In particular, Games 1 and 2 of Dodgers-Padres averaged 1.49 and 1.64 million viewers respectively on FS1, with Game 3 dropping down to 1.17 million on MLB Network. Braves-Marlins opened with 1.30 million on FS1, sank to 870,000 for Game 2 on MLB Network, and concluded with 1.01 million for Game 3 on FS1.
Finally, after opening with 1.42 million on Monday, Astros-A’s finished up with 1.37 million on Tuesday, 1.49 million on Wednesday and 1.44 million on Thursday.
The steep decline for the Division Series is in keeping with the broader trend facing sports television since the wave of cancellations and postponements in March. Events ranging from the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final to the Kentucky Derby and U.S. Open (golf and tennis) have declined dramatically from their usual levels.
