Thanks to a Game 3 washout, the World Series could get a Sunday game after all.
Major League Baseball postponed Monday’s Game 3 of the World Series due to rain and has pushed back each of the remaining games by one day — with Games 3, 4 and 5 scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and Game 6 and 7 moved to Saturday and Sunday. Friday will now be a travel day. [see also MLB TV schedule]
Typically when a playoff game is rained out, MLB would push back only those games that are scheduled for the following days and then sacrifice an off day to keep the rest of the series on schedule. In this case, preserving the off day gives MLB the opportunity to have a potential Game 7 on a higher viewed Sunday, rather than Saturday — the least-watched night of the week.
Monday’s postponement means that the World Series will go head-to-head with NFL Thursday Night Football. While TNF is lighter competition than its Monday night counterpart, this week’s matchup is uniquely tough competition — as it features the Phillies and Astros’ NFL counterparts, the Eagles and Texans. The ratings cannibalization in both markets figures to hurt the Game 5 numbers far more than Monday’s Bengals-Browns game would have hurt Game 3.
Game 3 marks the first World Series postponement since 2011.
As a result of the scheduling change, it is now increasingly likely that MLB will play its latest-ever game. The current record is November 4 for Game 7 of the 2001 World Series and Game 6 in 2009. Unless either Philadelphia or Houston wins in five, this year’s Fall Classic will go to either November 5 or 6.
(News from MLB)
