With all four series in ending in sweeps and none of the usual draws in the field, viewership was unsurprisingly down for the MLB Wild Card Series.
The eight-game MLB Wild Card Series averaged 2.25 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, down from 2.8 million for last year’s nine-game slate. Marlins-Phillies was the most-watched of the four series, averaging 2.99 million viewers on Tuesday and 3.24 million on Wednesday — down 16 and 9 percent respectively from Padres-Mets last year (3.54M for both games). Both games aired in primetime.
Rangers-Rays, which aired on ABC, ranked second with 2.18 million on Tuesday and 2.22 million on Wednesday — down from the lone ABC game last year, Phillies-Cardinals Game 1 (3.12M).
Rounding out the Wild Card slate, Blue Jays-Twins drew 1.68 million on Tuesday (-8%) and 2.03 million on Wednesday (-23%), while Diamondbacks-Brewers chipped in 1.86 and 1.95 million respectively. The latter series aired on ESPN2 and trailed both of last year’s ESPN2 games, Rays-Guardians Game 2 (2.27M) and Phillies-Cardinals Game 2 (2.52M).
Overall, viewership declined for all six windows that can be compared to last year.
Beyond the fact that all four series ended in sweeps, Wild Card viewership was hampered by a relatively low-profile eight-team field and by the games airing at midweek rather than on a weekend. Last year’s Wild Card round, by comparison, culminated in a winner-take-all Sunday night Game 3 involving the #1 market Mets (3.96M).
In other MLB action, last Saturday’s regular season finale on FOX averaged a 0.9 and 1.68 million viewers — down sharply from last year (1.5, 2.66M).
As previously noted, regular season viewership was down on ESPN and TBS this season. Averages for FOX will be posted when available.
(Nielsen estimates from ESPN, Fox Sports PR)
