Fall Classic has faced headwinds in TV viewership amid an election year and general sports fatigueGETTY IMAGES
Fox is averaging 9.1 million viewers for the Dodgers-Rays World Series after five games, easily on pace for a record low audience for the Fall Classic. The event has had to deal with headwinds in TV viewership amid an election year and general sports fatigue this fall due to the pandemic shifting many schedules. The previous low for any World Series on record was 12.7 million viewers for the Giants’ sweep of the Tigers in ’12. Through Game 5 of last year’s Nationals-Astros World Series, Fox was averaging 11.6 million viewers. Game 5 on Sunday night was the best audience yet for Dodgers-Rays, with Fox averaging 10.0 million viewers up against “Sunday Night Football,” down from 11.4 million last year for Game 5. On Saturday night, Game 4 averaged 9.3 million, down from 10.2 million. Friday night’s Game 3 was the least-watched World Series game on record, averaging just 8.2 million viewers (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
SAME AS IT EVER WAS: In DC, Matthew Paras writes the World Series this year "hasn’t lacked drama," but MLB "has run into the same problem that other leagues like the NBA and NHL have experienced the past few months: Not as many people are watching." MLB's drop "falls in line with other sports that have lost viewership amid the pandemic." Marist Center for Sports Communication Dir Jane McManus said, "For whatever reason, people just aren’t as devoting much time to watching sports that they used to. Is this a permanent drop off or is this because of the current era we live in? … A lot of our habits have changed" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/27).
