Low World Series TV ratings in 2023 continue 7-year downward trend
As television ratings continue to come out for the 2023 World Series, the news continues to get worse for MLB.
Game 2 of this year's Fall Classic between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers was the lowest-watched World Series game of all time with 8.15 million people tuning in, according to Nielsen data collected by Sports TV Ratings. Two nights later, Game 3 set a new record low of fewer than 8.13 million people.
As of the time of writing, television ratings for Tuesday night's Game 4 have not yet been released.
The low ratings of the MLB's 2023 championship event through three games have it set up to be the least-viewed World Series of all time.
It also continues the trend of a steady decline in World Series viewership since 2016, when an average of 22.8 million people tuned in to watch the Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Guardians (then known as the Indians) to win their first title since 1908.
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Why is no one watching the World Series this year?
There are many speculations as to why this year's iteration of the Fall Classic is so unpopular.
One of the leading theories is the fact that both teams playing in it – the Diamondbacks and the Rangers – are from small baseball markets.
Another theory is that the World Series is lacking some of baseball's biggest stars, such as Angels international superstar Shohei Ohtani or Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. That theory has also called into question MLB's ability to market the rest of its players well.
A final culprit is the competition baseball faces with football, particularly on weekends, when the World Series airs at the same time as prime-time games for college football and the NFL.
This week's "Monday Night Football" game, Detroit's 26-14 win over Las Vegas that led to the dismissal of Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, drew an average of 15.2 million viewers across ESPN and ABC according to Sports TV Ratings, nearly twice as many as World Series Game 3 did while airing at the same time.
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World Series schedule 2023
Game 5 of the 2023 World Series will begin at 8:03 p.m. ET, on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at Chase Field. The Rangers lead the series, 3-1.
- Game 1: Rangers 6, Diamondbacks 5 (11 innings)
- Game 2: Diamondbacks 9, Rangers 1
- Game 3: Rangers 3, Diamondbacks 1
- Game 4: Rangers 11, Diamondbacks 7
- Game 5: Rangers at Diamondbacks, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 8:03 p.m. ET, FOX
- Game 6: Diamondbacks at Rangers, Friday, Nov. 3, 8:03 p.m. ET, FOX (If necessary)
- Game 7: Diamondbacks at Rangers, Saturday, Nov. 4, 8:03 p.m. ET, FOX (If necessary)
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