Ratings were down for game one of the World Series.
The World Series opener between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros narrowly averted setting a record low.
Washington’s 5-4 victory Tuesday night averaged 12,194,000 television viewers, according to national numbers from Nielsen. That edges the 12,191,000 who tuned in for San Francisco’s 7-1 win over Kansas City in the 2014 opener.ESPN.com
The numbers are down 11.4% from last year’s Game 1 between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, which averaged 13.76 million viewers.
It’s not surprising that without a big draw like the Dodgers the ratings would be down. I also would not be surprised that the Astros boneheaded front office rant and subsequent botching of the aftermath turned off a lot of viewers.
It’s too bad, because people missed a great game. Maybe now that the Astros don’t look like a cinch to win the trophy, more people will tune in.