Game 1 of the World Series was a historic ratings dud, but nonetheless up double-digits from last year and one of the most-watched non-football sporting events in 20 months.
Tuesday’s Braves-Astros World Series Game 1 averaged a 6.1 rating and 10.81 million viewers on FOX (11.08M across all Fox platforms), up 20% in ratings and 17% in viewership from Rays-Dodgers last year (5.1, 9.27M) but down 16% and 11% respectively from Nationals-Astros in 2019 (7.3, 12.19M).
Atlanta’s win tops only last year as the lowest rated and least-watched World Series opener on record.
If low for the Fall Classic, Game 1 delivered the sixth-largest sports audience — excluding football and the Olympics — since the wave of cancellations and postponements that decimated the industry in March of last year. Even after 20 months, it was just the eighth such sportscast to crack the 10 million mark.
It ranks second among baseball games since the sport went on hiatus last year, trailing only the clinching Game 6 of last year’s World Series (12.70M). It took until Game 5 last season before any game cracked the ten million mark.
Game 1 drew a 2.5 rating in adults 18-49, up just a tick from last year (2.4) but down 19% from 2019 (3.1). Its 1.6 rating in adults 18-34 actually declined 11% from last year (1.8) and 24% from ’19 (2.1). The World Series won the night easily in both demos, as well as adults 25-54 (3.2, +10%).
By comparison, Game 1 of the NBA Finals in July had a lower rating (4.5) and fewer viewers (8.56M), though it outdrew the Fall Classic in 18-49 (2.9) and 18-34 (2.3) and tied in 25-54 (3.2)
Local ratings in Atlanta and Houston were not immediately available. For a full list of World Series ratings from 1972 through last year, see the following page.
Most-watched sportscasts since 2019
Excluding football and the Olympic Games.
[Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 10.27, ShowBuzz Daily 10.27]
