Major League Baseball’s League Championship Series have surged over last year’s lows, though comparisons to 2019 are more of a mixed bag.
Friday’s Red Sox-Astros ALCS Game 1 averaged a 3.4 rating and 6.14 million viewers on FOX Friday night, the top audience of the LCS thus far and up a whopping 206% and 197% respectively from last year on TBS (Astros-Rays: 1.1, 2.07M). Last year’s ALCS Game 1 not only faced Sunday Night Football but the clinching game of the NBA Finals on one of the most crowded nights in sports TV history.
Compared to Astros-Yankees Game 1 on FOX in 2019, ratings fell 6% (from 3.6) and viewership inched up a fraction of a percent (from 6.11M).
Houston’s series-opening win was the most-watched LCS opener since 2017, when Yankees-Astros opened with 6.16 million and Cubs-Dodgers 6.33 million.
Game 2 of the series pulled a 2.7 and 5.01 million on both FOX and FS1 Saturday, up 124% in ratings and 167% in viewership from Astros-Rays on a Monday afternoon last year (1.2, 1.88M) but down 16% and 10% respectively from Yankees-Astros on a Sunday night in ’19, which aired on FS1 alone (3.2, 5.59M).
Monday’s Game 3 hit a series-low with 3.54 million viewers on FS1 opposite Monday Night Football, still up 67% from Rays-Astros on a Tuesday night last year (2.12M) but down 8% from a Tuesday afternoon Astros-Yankees game in ’19 (3.84M).
Shifting to the National League, Saturday’s Dodgers-Braves Game 1 drew a 2.4 and 4.67 million on TBS — up a tick in ratings and 11% in viewership from the same matchup last year, which aired on a Monday night on FOX (2.3, 4.20M). Compared Nationals-Cardinals Game 1 on TBS in 2019, ratings fell 15% (from 2.8) but viewership nonetheless inched up (from 4.65M).
Sunday night’s Game 2 drew a 2.7 and 5.01 million, up 91% in ratings and 104% in viewership from last year’s Tuesday afternoon Game 2 on FS1 (1.4, 2.46M) and up 41% and 65% respectively from a Saturday afternoon Game 2 in 2019 (1.9, 3.04M).
The early LCS trend — massive gains over 2020 and mixed results compared to 2019 — is in keeping with the overall trend of the postseason. Per Sports Business Journal reporter Austin Karp, viewership for the Wild Card and Division Series soared 89% from last year and just 3% from 2019. The Division Series in particular was up 56% from last year and actually declined 7% from 2019.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 10.19, Austin Karp/Twitter 10.15]
