Few things boost MLB ratings like a Yankee Game 7.
Saturday’s Yankees-Astros ALCS Game 7 had 9.9 million viewers on FS1, up 22% from the most recent LCS Game 7, Cardinals-Giants on the FOX broadcast network in 2012 (8.1M). That game aired opposite Monday Night Football and a presidential debate.
Compared to Red Sox-Rays on TBS in 2008, the previous ALCS Game 7 and the only other Game 7 to air on cable, viewership fell 26% from 13.4 million. That game aired on a Sunday night opposite the lowest rated NFL game ever on primetime broadcast television.
The Astros’ shut-out win, which peaked with 11.8 million viewers from 11-11:15 PM ET, was the most-watched baseball game outside of the World Series and All-Star Game since 2010, when the final three games of the LCS exceeded 11 million viewers. The previous high over that span was 9.7 million for Tigers-Yankees Game 5 in the 2011 Division Series.
Game 7 had an additional 445,000 viewers on Fox Deportes — the network’s second-largest MLB audience behind Game 7 of last year’s World Series (565K) — and 153,000 on Fox Sports GO. In total, it averaged 10.5 million viewers.
Saturday’s game delivered the fourth-largest MLB audience ever on cable, behind Red Sox-Rays Game 7 in ’08, Yankees-Rangers Game 6 on TBS in 2010 (11.9M) and a Cubs-Cardinals regular season game on ESPN during the 1998 home run chase (10.6M). It was the most-watched program in the history of Fox Sports 1, topping the previous high set on the comparable date last year — 9.7 million for Dodgers-Cubs Game 6 in the NLCS.
As should be no surprise, considering it aired on cable on the least-watched night of the week, Yankees-Astros delivered the second-smallest Game 7 audience in MLB history.
Locally, Game 7 had a 21.6 rating in Houston. The Astros’ previous LCS Game 7 (against St. Louis in 2004) had a 45.0. In New York, Game 7 had an 18.0 rating. The Yankees’ previous LCS Game 7 (against the Red Sox in 2004) had a 30.7. The 2004 games aired on FOX.
The complete Astros-Yankees series averaged 6.5 million viewers on FS1 and FOX, up 95% from last year’s five-game Indians-Blue Jays series on TBS (3.3M) and the most-watched ALCS since Red Sox-Tigers on FOX in 2013 (7.7M). Compared to last year’s Cubs-Dodgers NLCS on FOX, viewership declined 6% from 7.0 million. Last year’s NLCS aired exclusively in primetime, while this year’s ALCS included three day games.
With the Yankees making their longest playoff run since 2009, and the LCS featuring both the Yankees and Cubs for the first time since 2003, MLB ratings have reaped the benefits. Across all networks, MLB Postseason games have averaged 4.8 million viewers entering the World Series — up 12% from last year (4.2M), up 3% from 2015 (4.6M) and the highest average since 2011.
[Sat. numbers from Fox Sports; local numbers from Houston Chronicle‘s David Barron 10.22]
