The championship series of the NHL and NBA were no match for regular season baseball in some local markets.
Regular season baseball games outdrew Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in fifteen television markets Wednesday night, including NHL strongholds Pittsburgh and Detroit.
The Giants/Pirates game on Root Sports earned an 8.95 rating in Pittsburgh, beating Bruins/Blackhawks Game 1 (5.99) by 49% head-to-head. In Detroit, the Tigers/Royals day game earned a 7.46 on Fox Sports Detroit — beating Game 1 (5.75) by 30%.
Baseball won the battle in seven other NHL markets, including Tampa-St. Petersburg (by 46%), Dallas (by 139%), Philadelphia (by 30%), Washington D.C. (by 9%), Los Angeles (by 11%) and the Bay Area — where the Giants and Athletics beat Game 1 by 99% and 36%, respectively.
In no NHL market was the gap larger than in St. Louis, however. The Cardinals/Mets game crushed Game 1 by 206% (8.72 to 2.85).
The NHL was not alone in losing to regular season baseball. On Tuesday night, the Tigers/Royals series beat the NBA Finals in both participating markets, including NBA market Detroit.
Tigers/Royals drew a 12.9 rating on FS Detroit, 70% higher than Heat/Spurs Game 3 (7.6). The 12.9 is the second-highest of the year for the Tigers on the network.
Tuesday’s game also drew an 8.8 rating on Fox Sports Kansas City, the highest ever for a Royals game on the network — and 45% higher than the NBA’s Game 3 (6.1). The previous record for the Royals on FS Kansas City was set the night before by the same match-up (8.1).
