2017 MLB-WS Was Third-Biggest Draw In 10-Years

The 2017 World Series was a blast, both literally and figuratively, and while Game 7 was something of an anticlimax in light of all the drama that preceded it, the final ratings numbers exceeded all expectations, reports AdAge.

Houston's 5-1 victory Wednesday night gave the ball club its first MLB title since it entered the National League as an expansion team back in 1962.

According to Nielsen live-same-day data, baseball's season finale averaged 28.2 million viewers and a 15.8 household rating, beating out two of Fox's five previous Game 7 broadcasts. In 2014, the San Francisco Giants clinched against the Kansas City Royals by a 3-2 margin in a game that averaged 23.5 million viewers and a 13.7 household rating, while 25.4 million viewers watched the St. Louis Cardinals close the books on the 2011 Fall Classic with their 6-2 victory over the Texas Rangers. That game did a 14.7 rating.

At its peak, during the 10:30 p.m. EDT half-hour window, Game 7 served up 31.4 million viewers.
Setting aside the Chicago Cubs's historic extra-innings triumph over Cleveland in last year's World Series, which scared up a whopping 40 million viewers, Wednesday night's game was Fox's most-watched MLB broadcast since the Red Sox swept the Cardinals in the fourth frame of the 2004 World Series. That game averaged 28.8 million viewers.

Game 7 now stands as the most-watched TV broadcast of the young 2017-18 season, edging Fox's Sept. 17 presentation of a Cowboys-Broncos NFL game that delivered 26 million viewers and a 14.3 household rating. That showdown did, however, edge the older-skewing World Series capper in the ad demo, drawing an 8.5 rating, good for around 11 million adults 18 to 49. By comparison, the Astros-Dodgers finale did an 8.2 rating, which works out to 10.5 million adults 18 to 49.

All told, the seven-game Astros-Dodgers set averaged 18.7 million viewers and a 5.0 in Fox's dollar demo, which translates to 6.45 million adults 18 to 49. Season-to-date, the Big Four broadcast networks are averaging a 1.5 rating, or 1.93 million adults 18 to 49, in prime time.

As it happens, Game 7 was this season's youngest-skewing World Series broadcast, serving up an audience with a median age of 53 years old. The median age for the entire series was 55 years, up a smidgen from the year-ago 53.8 years and 54.6 years for the 2015 Royals-Mets set.