It’s not surprising to see the numbers. In two cities where the NFL and the MLB League Division Series were being played opposite each other, football easily outpaced baseball. For Washington and Dallas, the LDS and NFL were on head-to-head as the Nationals and Redskins were on at 1 p.m. ET and the Cowboys and Rangers played at 4 p.m. ET while Rangers-Blue Jays aired at 7 p.m. ET.

Now the NFL games were on broadcast TV, Ravens-Redskins on Fox and Bengals-Cowboys on CBS. Dodgers-Nationals was aired on FS1 while Rangers-Blue Jays was shown on TBS.

The preliminary ratings in DC show Ravens-Redskins averaged 740,000 viewers on Fox while Dodgers-Nats garnered 135,000. To be fair, the MLB game had been postponed to Sunday and fans may not have known of the change to 1 p.m. ET.

In Dallas, baseball was not just beaten by Cowboys-Bengals with a massive 31.8 rating, but also by Eagles-Lions in the early window on Fox (11.2) as well as  the Sunday Night Football game on NBC (9.6). Rangers-Blue Jays received a 6.5.

Again, it’s not shocking to see the margin between the NFL and MLB. The NFL despite its lower ratings is still the most popular sport on television and baseball’s postseason with the exception of the World Series has become a mostly cable affair. And with both of the LCS airing for the most part on FS1 and TBS, we’ll likely see another wide margin between the NFL and baseball next weekend.

[DC Sports Bog/Barry Horn Twitter]

 

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.

He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.

Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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