Game 1 of the World Series had historical low TV ratings. How bad were they?
Game 1 of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled in historically low ratings for FOX according to a report by Sports Media Watch.
Sports Media Watch has kept television data for every World Series since 1972.
The first game of this year’s Fall Classic drew 9.17 million viewers. It’s a drop of more than two million from last year’s game 1 between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros which had 11.48 million viewers.
It’s the smallest television audience since the 2020 World Series which took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic and featured the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Ratings for the World Series have been declining for years, the 2016 Fall Classic between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians peaked at 40.05 million viewers and viewership has not reached or surpassed that number in the ensuing years.
The viewership numbers for game 2 of the World Series have yet to be released.
