If not the kind of blockbuster draw the “Field of Dreams” game was three years ago, Major League Baseball’s trip to historic Rickwood Field still delivered one of the top audiences of the season.
Thursday’s Giants-Cardinals Major League Baseball game from Rickwood Field in Birmingham (Ala.), which served as a tribute to the Negro Leagues and to the recently passed Willie Mays, averaged 2.35 million viewers on FOX, per Nielsen fast-nationals — ranking fourth among MLB telecasts this season. FOX has aired the top four, with all-but-one coming in the past three weeks.
The Cardinals’ win, which peaked with 2.56 million viewers in the 8:45 PM ET quarter-hour, was the most-watched Thursday night game on FOX since the Aaron Judge home run chase in September 2022 (3.23M), a span of five telecasts.
Compared to other special MLB events, “MLB at Rickwood Field” outpaced the past two years of the MLB London Series and every edition of the annual Little League Classic, but was no match for the most direct comparison — the “Field of Dreams” games MLB held in 2021 (5.91M) and 2022 (3.10M).
While the “Field of Dreams” and Rickwood Field games both drew on baseball’s considerable history, the former had the advantage of being associated with a Hollywood movie that is embedded within popular culture. Rickwood Field is not nearly as well known by the public and the history of the Negro Leagues has long been neglected outside the domain of baseball historians.
Locally, St. Louis turned in a 9.4 rating and whopping 29 share. The Bay Area chipped in a 3.9/18.
