Despite the NFL’s dominance in American sports, the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers have shaken up the ratings battle, thanks to their star-studded National League Championship Series (NLCS). Baseball, long overshadowed by football in recent years, showed it can still draw impressive numbers when the stakes are high, particularly in two of the country’s largest media markets—New York and Los Angeles. This clash of titans is pulling in millions of viewers, proving the timeless appeal of America’s original pastime.
According to data from Nielsen, NBC’s Sunday Night Football experienced its lowest viewership of the season as the Bengals took on the Giants, attracting 15.44 million viewers. This marked an 8% drop compared to a similar matchup last year. Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ dominant 9-0 victory over the Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS aired at the same time and drew an impressive 8.26 million viewers, the largest audience for a League Championship Series opener in 15 years. The competition between football and baseball for viewer attention seems fiercer than ever.
The success of the Mets-Dodgers series can largely be attributed to the high concentration of fans in New York and Los Angeles. With a combined 13.33 million TV households between these two markets, they account for over 10% of the national viewing audience. This surge in interest is fueled by the presence of superstar players, with Shohei Ohtani among the standouts. His remarkable performance continues to capture the attention of fans and cement his reputation as one of the sport’s brightest stars.
While the NFL remains the undisputed ratings juggernaut, the numbers from this NLCS suggest that baseball can still challenge football’s supremacy, especially when big-market teams with huge fan bases are involved. The draw of high-profile teams and iconic matchups underscores the ongoing allure of baseball, even in an era where football usually reigns supreme on primetime TV.
Ultimately, this shift in viewership shows that baseball has plenty of life left in it, especially when its marquee matchups take center stage. With more games to come, the NLCS could continue to disrupt the NFL’s grip on Sunday night ratings, proving that the timeless appeal of baseball can still hold its own.