Despite a dramatic finish, Game 1 of the 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers was the least-watched World Series Game 1 on record. From The Athletic, here’s what you need to know:
- The game — which the Rangers won 6-5 after Adolis García’s walk-off homer in the 11th inning — averaged 9.172 million viewers on Fox and an additional 182,000 on Fox Deportes.
- It also averaged a 4.6 rating, another low, according to Sports Media Watch, which lists the prior lows as a 5.1 rating and 9.35 million viewers for Game 1 of the 2020 World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers during the pandemic-impacted season.
- The series is tied 1-1 as the Diamondbacks host the Rangers in Game 3 on Monday.
This series was always going to be viewership challenged — as anyone who studies or writes about sports viewership would have told you prior to first pitch. The question was how low would the numbers be. These numbers are low. You can’t spin them, according to Richard Deitsch, sports media senior writer.
The Diamondbacks and Rangers are not national draws based on historic television data outside of when they are playing a team with broad appeal or a series going long (which is what Fox has to really hope for with this series). One thing that definitely impacted this viewership: Game 1 was played on a Friday, which is one of the least-watched days of the week on linear television.
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