Through two games, the ALCS and NLCS are off to positive starts on Fox and TBS.
Game 1 of the ALCS on Fox drew 6.135 million viewers Friday, while Game 2 of the Red Sox-Astros matchup drew 5.014 million on Saturday, which includes a simulcast on FS1. On the National League side, Game 1 between the Braves and Dodgers drew 4.668 million viewers on TBS, while Game 2 drew 5.006 million on Sunday night. That Sunday night number seems quite impressive to me, given that the Seahawks-Steelers Sunday Night Football matchup drew 16.278 million viewers.
The comparisons to 2020 aren’t even close. Only three of the 14 LCS games a year ago topped 4.5 million viewers, while the first four all did this year. The Rays-Astros ALCS on TBS averaged just 2.781 million viewers and topped out at 4.502 million for Game 7, while the Dodgers-Braves NLCS on Fox and FS1 averaged 4.476 million viewers and topped out at 9.662 million viewers for Game 7.
Comparisons to 2019 are also holding up okay. The ALCS is down 5% from Astros-Yankees in 2019 (5.85 million viewers through two games, though only one of those two aired on Fox), while the NLCS is up 26% from Nationals-Cardinals in 2019 (3.85 million viewers through two games on TBS).
However, in something of a disappointing note, none of the four LCS games were able to top the viewership for Game 5 of the Dodgers-Giants NLDS, and only one (ALCS Game 1) topped the viewership for Game 4 of that NLDS.
The viewership for each series will ultimately depend on how long each goes. A Braves sweep in the NLCS will clamp down on how high viewership for that series goes (especially with Game 3 airing in the afternoon on the west coast and at 5 PM on the east coast), while over in the AL, significant Red Sox wins in Games 2 and 3 may temper interest for Games 4 and 5 (with the latter starting at 5 PM locally).
