Missed Classic! Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks World Series Game 1 Draws Lowest TV Rating Ever
PHOENIX — A lot of baseball fans missed a classic Friday night.
Game 1 of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks was the lowest-rated Game 1 in history, according to Sports Media Watch.
The dramatic, extra-inning game that ended with Rangers' slugger Adolis Garcia hitting a walk-off home run, had 9.17 million viewers on Fox.
The previous World Series Game 1 low was 9.35 million in 2020 for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Tampa Bay Rays, also played at Globe Life Field in Arlington because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That aired on a Tuesday night.
The walkoff win by the Rangers over the Diamondbacks was the lowest-rated Game 1 of the World Series ever.
The 2023 Game 1 had an average 4.6 rating, lower than the 5.1 rating for the Dodgers-Rays Game 1 in 2020.
How bad was the viewership? Only one World Series game overall had a lower rating than the 2023 Game 1. That was Game 3 of the 2020 World Series, which drew a 4.3 rating and 8.3 million viewers.
It's the first World Series Game 1 on record to average less than a 5.7 rating or garner less than 10.93 million viewers. Those sets of numbers are from the Houston Astros/Philadelphia Phillies Game 1 in 2022 and the Atlanta Braves/Astros Game 1 in 2021.
Compared to last year's Astros-Phillies Game 1 (5.7 ratings and 11.5 million viewers), the ratings dropped 18% and viewership dropped 20%.
Fans were watching in North Texas in Arizona. Game 1 had an 18.8 rating and 49 share in Dallas-Fort Worth and a 16 rating and 45 share in Phoenix.
Game 2 national ratings information will be available Tuesday, but the local numbers remained high: 17.7 rating and 49 share in DFW and a 14.7 rating and 44 share in Phoenix.
The low World Series Game 1 rating is a bit surprising considering the League Championship Series round featuring the Rangers vs. Astros and D-backs vs. Phillies had their highest ratings in five years. Those series airing on TBS, Fox, and FS1 average 5.2 million viewers over 14 games, both seven-game series. That was a 15% improvement from 2022 and the highest viewership since a 12-game LCS round in 2018, according to Sports Business Journal.
You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.
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