A blowout Game 1 of the World Series featuring a small market team and a big market club in its third Fall Classic in five seasons didn’t move the needle for Fox.
The San Francisco Giants’ 7-1 win over the Kansas City Royals drew 12.19 million viewers, the lowest ever for Game 1 of the World Series, the fifth-least watched World Series game in history, and the least-watched World Series game to not take place on a Saturday night. The game dropped 15 percent from Game 1 of the Red Sox-Cardinals series last year, and was down slightly from Game 1 of the Giants-Tigers World Series two years ago.
Kansas City led all markets, posting a 48.2/68, the best rating for World Series Game 1 in any market since 2007, while San Francisco registered a 29.3/50. Sacramento (23.0/37), St. Louis (13.3/20) and Las Vegas (11.1/19) rounded out the top five. The numbers for Game 1 in Kansas City were higher than any Chiefs game this season, to give you an idea of how crazy those numbers are.
The rating peaked at 8:30 p.m. ET with an 8.5 rating, and dipped all the way to a 5.7 at the end of the game, so there are clearly signs that the lack of competitive nature in Game 1 hurt it. Game 2, hopefully, will show signs of improvement in both aspects.
Least-watched World Series games
5. 2014: San Francisco vs. Kansas City, Game 1 – 12.19 million
4. 2012: San Francisco vs. Texas, Game 3 – 11.4 million
3. 2011: St. Louis vs. Texas, Game 3 – 11.2 million
2. 2010: San Francisco vs. Detroit, Game 3 – 10.5 million
1. 2008: Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia, Game 3 – 9.8 million*
*Rain Delayed
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About Steve Lepore
Steve Lepore is a writer for Bloguin and a correspondent for SiriusXM NHL Network Radio.