It isn’t too often that a Major League Baseball game can outdraw an NFL telecast head-to-head. A baseball game on cable beating the NFL on broadcast is unheard of.
Game 7 of the ALCS between the Rays and Red Sox on TBS beat Sunday Night Football on NBC head-to-head, and by a good margin. Rays/Red Sox drew a 7.9/13 final rating and 13.4 million viewers, while Seahawks/Buccaneers drew a 6.3/10 final and 10.0 million — record lows for a prime time NFL game on broadcast. Baseball won the ratings battle by 25%.
In the key adults 18-49 demo, baseball scored a 4.7/12, compared to a 3.9/9 for football.
Rays/Red Sox was the third-highest rated and most viewed program on Sunday night, behind only 60 Minutes on CBS and Desperate Housewives on ABC. The game finished as the highest rated, most viewed telecast of the week on cable, surpassing Monday Night Football on ESPN.
