MLB postseason TV ratings even with last season despite smaller markets

Despite not featuring a team from the country's three largest markets, New York, Chicago or Los Angeles for the first time since 2014, the Major League Baseball postseason is still producing numbers consistent with previous seasons. 

According to Nielsen, despite seeing slight declines in the Wild Card and division series, the league championship series drew an average of 5.2 million viewers, which is consistent with previous seasons. 

Game one of the ALCS featuring the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros averaged 7.27 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes, and streaming. That was the highest-rated LCS game since a 2010 matchup between the Rangers and the New York Yankees averaged 8.11 million. 

"I do believe variety is a good thing for our sports. You look at other sports, they have the same mix," commissioner Rob Manfred said on ESPN's "First Take" before the postseason. "We have 30 markets. Everyone has to have a chance to compete."

Another likely reason for the solid postseason ratings is because of the new pace-of-play rules in baseball. During this year's All-Star game, Manfred explained that one of the main reasons that rules like the pitch clock were implemented was to try and increase their television and streaming audience. 

“Our national ratings are up and also importantly, our local ratings despite the fact that the local cable audience — the universe of available homes — are down,” Manfred said. “We continue to dominate summer programming in our local markets which is really important.”

This is absolutely fantastic news for baseball. Even without large-market giants like the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers or Chicago Cubs, or superstars like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts or Aaron Judge, people are still tuning in to watch the postseason.  

The league championship series also features some very compelling stories of their own. The Rangers and Astros are meeting for the first-ever postseason iteration of the Lone Star Series. The Philadelphia Phillies upset the Atlanta Braves in the division series and have made any game played at Citizens Bank Park must-watch baseball. The Arizona Diamondbacks, who rode their young core to a surprise postseason appearance, are looking to play spoiler.