Heading into Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday, we figured today would be a good time to look back at the viewership for the NLCS and ALCS.
We last looked at each series on Friday, prior to the decisive Game 6 of each matchup. Both matchups delivered series highs for TBS and Fox.
Friday’s ALCS Game 6 on FS1 drew 5.812 million viewers, with streaming and Fox Deportes viewership pushing the final number to 6.175 million viewers. That nudges the average viewership of the series to 4.75 million viewers, up 6% from last year’s seven game NLCS on FS1 and Fox. However, it’s down 21% from the 2019 ALCS on Fox and FS1, which averaged 5.75 million viewers, and down 3% from the 2018 NLCS on Fox and FS1, which averaged 4.89 million viewers.
Saturday’s NLCS Game 6 on TBS drew 6.949 million viewers, resulting in a final average viewership of the series to 5.23 million viewers. That’s up 88% from last year’s ALCS coverage on TBS. The series was also up 31% from 2019’s NLCS coverage on TBS, which averaged just four million viewers, and down 11% from 2018’s ALCS coverage on TBS, which averaged 5.81 million viewers.
Incredibly, the most-watched game of this MLB Postseason remains the Red Sox-Yankees Wild Card game three weeks ago, which drew 7.69 million viewers over ESPN and ESPN2. That’s followed by Game 6 of the NLCS at 6.949 million viewers, and the Dodgers-Cardinals Wild Card game at 6.7 million viewers. In fourth is Game 5 of the Dodgers-Giants NLDS with 6.5 million viewers, followed by Game 6 of the ALCS at 6.175 million. In short, the Dodgers played in three of the four most watched games in these playoffs, and of the 11 playoff games to draw at least five million viewers, seven involved the Dodgers. The other four involved the Red Sox.
With neither team involved in the World Series, it’ll be interesting to see how the Braves-Astros series does overall. Atlanta’s 22 year World Series drought should result in a strong number regionally, though it remains to be seen if the national number will be similarly impactful.
[Data via ShowBuzz Daily, Sports Media Watch]
