Shadow of the Stadium: Rays Fans Still Flock to TV

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Maury Brown just posted a full breakdown of every MLB team's 2016 television ratings on Forbes.com (save the few games that remain in the season), and while the Rays felt a sting from their terrible on-field play this year, their TV ratings were much more respectable than their attendance numbers:

Rays games averaged a 2.95 household rating, down 28% from last year's huge 4.12 mark, but good enough for 13th out of 29 MLB teams based in the US (Toronto's ratings work differently).
An average of 55,000 households - representing approximately 124,000 fans - watched the Rays each night, better than nine other teams, including the Diamondbacks, Braves, Dodgers, Angels, and White Sox.
The Rays were Tampa Bay's third-most popular prime-time program this year, and the region's No. 1 on cable.

The most-watched teams in their respective markets, depending on metric, were the Royals (11.7 rating), Cardinals (8.5), and Tigers (7.6)...or the Mets (2.2M households), Yankees (2.0M), and Cubs (1.7M).

Brown also reports overall television numbers are up, even as ESPN bleeds subscribers. So even if the "cable bubble" bursts, the Rays are in great shape to parlay their strong numbers into a great new TV contract soon.

We just don't know when, because pro teams don't like you knowing how wealthy they are.