According to Top 100 Television Markets - Station Index Dallas-Ft. Worth is the fifth largest television market. Phoenix is the 12th. Upthread, it was noted that DFW is the fourth largest, and Phoenix is the 10th.
I also noted upthread that the last 3 Series were ranked 49, 47th, and 48th in ratings over the last 50 years. This one may be below those three.
Small markets have absolutely nothing to do with the ratings, unless you consider all markets to be small if they’re not New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Boston.
Huh. Never heard the World Series referred to as the ‘post-Playoff season’. So I guess the Super Bowl is also the ‘post-Playoff season’? And the NBA and NHL finals?
I get wary anytime someone complains about low TV ratings because of two less-popular teams playing in a championship. They might not say it out loud, but what’s often indirectly implied is, “The league should have engineered things so that these 2 teams couldn’t advance to the championship.”
That’s exactly what the NFL did by seeking parity. It didn’t select particular teams of course, but engineered a situation where it was more difficult to create dynasty teams like the Yankees had been in baseball. The problem in baseball is the success of those other sports, largely I believe because those other sports emphasize action in play. Even the ridiculously low scoring game of soccer at least keeps the teams moving unlike baseball where most of the players could eat lunch while playing the game, and I don’t mean only in the dugout.
Logically, people who love a sport absolutely LOVE the playoffs and title series. In the NFL, playoff attendance is lights out! In baseball, this is simply not true. Why? I believe it’s because, during the summer, baseball has no real competition sports wise. What, the WNBA, soccer, bowling? Puh-leeeze! However, in the fall, it’s an entirely different story. The NFL is the main reason, but the NBA starts in October, and the NHL in late October.
Also, I think there is a misunderstand of what I mean when I use the term “market”. In the old days, a teams market was the area it could reach with its games, and that area was limited. Now, technology has changed that. My definition of “market” in the number of people that give a damn because they are the ones who will watch, not the casual fan who has no interest in the teams involved.
NFL playoff attendance is really no different than the regular season attendance for those teams. Good teams in the NFL sell out - that’s not always the case in MLB, regardless of which month it is. MLB postseason likely has better attendance than the regular season, but they also have Tuesday day games in the playoffs, which is just asinine, and get the ratings and attendance that slot deserves (abysmal).
Speaking of interviews is anyone else annoyed that during an inning, we have interviews of Bruce Bochy and Torey Lovullo? Criminy sakes, people, leave them alone and let them do their job!
IMHO, the reason is because of the condensed-importance of each game. In the NFL each game carries massive importance; there being only 17 games in the regular schedule. And the playoffs are win-or-go-home in a single game. That greatly ramps up the intensity. So playoff games always sell out and TV ratings are high. Plus, each game comes with about one week’s waiting time beforehand, which builds anticipation.
In MLB, the season is 162 games long and the importance is greatly diluted. No matter the outcome, you only need to wait a day or two for the next game. And it’s impossible for a team to lose a playoff series in fewer than 4 games.