October 14, 2024

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Good morning. Four teams remain in the MLB playoffs, and among them are baseball’s two most popular franchises. They were key in huge viewership numbers during the division series, including the highest NLDS mark in a decade. Can MLB sustain this momentum, and how high is the upside for this year’s World Series?

— David Rumsey [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

MLB Playoff Ratings Keep Climbing on Back of Ohtani, Big Markets [[link removed]]

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The MLB playoffs are down to the final four teams, and a combination of star power and big media markets has the league primed for one of its best TV performances in years.

Fox Sports is airing the Dodgers-Mets National League Championship Series, after recording the most-watched MLB division series since 2015.

The Dodgers-Padres and Mets-Phillies series combined to average 4.1 million viewers across nine games. That was boosted by a Friday night audience of 7.5 million for Los Angeles’s 2–0 series-clinching victory over San Diego, which was the most-watched LDS Game 5 since 2017. This is the first postseason for baseball’s $700 million man [[link removed]], Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.

In the American League, TNT Sports gets the Yankees and Guardians. Final viewership from the ALDS has not yet been released, but preliminary numbers show that the Yankees-Royals and Guardians-Tigers series averaged 3 million viewers per game after Thursday—a 20% increase from last year’s ALDS on Fox Sports.

World Series Preview

The Yankees are favored to beat the Guardians, and New York making its first World Series since 2009 would no doubt bring a huge TV audience to MLB’s championship round.

Should that happen, a matchup with the Dodgers would bring potential coast-to-coast appeal, as well as viewers interested in Ohtani, while a faceoff with the Mets would maximize New York’s two-team baseball fan base. However, there are drawbacks to concentrating viewership in one area. In 2000, the Yankees and Mets met in the World Series, and viewership was down 24% from 1999 [[link removed]]’s Yankees-Braves clash.

A London Super Bowl? Goodell Shifts Stance on NFL’s Biggest Game [[link removed]]

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Just as the NFL crossed the halfway point of its five-game international series schedule this season, the idea of playing a Super Bowl outside the U.S. is gaining new life.

Before the Bears beat the Jaguars 35–16 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about the potential move at an annual fan forum in London on Saturday. “We’ve always traditionally tried to play a Super Bowl in an NFL city—that was always sort of a reward for the cities that have NFL franchises,” Goodell said [[link removed]]. “But things change. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that happens one day.”

Super Bowl hosts are set through 2027, with New Orleans, San Francisco, and Los Angeles on tap over the next three years. Atlanta is expected to be awarded the 2028 Super Bowl. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opened in 2019 after being specifically designed to host NFL games, in addition to its primary sport, soccer.

What Goodell Has Said Before

Goodell’s comments over the weekend are a slight shift from what he said about Super Bowls last year in London [[link removed]]. “I think right now our formula will stay the same about playing in cities that have franchises,” the commissioner said in October 2023.

While anything Goodell says should not be taken lightly, it should not be considered gospel, either. Last September, Goodell wouldn’t rule out the idea of a franchise outside the U.S. [[link removed]] “I think it’s possible,” he said. This fall, Goodell has instead prioritized the potential of expanding the NFL’s international schedule to 16 games [[link removed]].

What’s Next?

The Jaguars “host” the Patriots at Wembley Stadium [[link removed]] this coming Sunday, and the Panthers and Giants play in Munich, Germany next month. Next season, the NFL will play a game in Madrid, Spain, as part of an expanded eight-game international schedule.

In London over the weekend, Goodell also said he had “no doubt” that Ireland—likely Dublin—will host an NFL game soon [[link removed]'s%20coming%20soon.%22]. “I know the Steelers really want to go there,” he said. Pittsburgh is one of three franchises with international marketing rights in the country, alongside the Jaguars and Jets.

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ESPN Adds Six More ‘Monday Night Football’ Games to ABC [[link removed]]

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ESPN and the NFL have significantly expanded the presence of Monday Night Football on Disney-owned broadcast network ABC—beginning with Monday’s Bills-Jets matchup—a move all but certain to further boost viewership for the showcase.

The networks said Friday they are scheduling six additional MNF games for the ABC simulcasts of ESPN coverage. The new games set for the dual-network presence are:

Week 6 (Oct. 14): Bills at Jets Week 7 (Oct. 21): Ravens at Buccaneers Week 9 (Nov. 4): Buccaneers at Chiefs Week 11 (Nov. 18): Texans at Cowboys Week 12 (Nov. 25): Ravens at Chargers Week 16 (Dec. 23): Saints at Packers

Before this move, ESPN planned to show 11 NFL regular-season and playoff games this year on ABC, a marked reduction from last year’s schedule that featured 19 games either simulcast or shown exclusively on the broadcast network [[link removed]]. With the revised schedule, that number reaches 17 and the overall 2024 MNF broadcast slate will now look much more like last year’s.

Last year’s heavy slate was partly owed to the writers’ and actors’ strikes that disrupted entertainment programming for the start of the 2023–2024 television season, and ESPN used the extra exposure to help fuel a 29% lift in MNF ratings. [[link removed]] This season, ABC’s prime-time programming is led largely by reality and game shows, making the presence of the NFL—by far the most-watched content across all of U.S. television, regardless of genre—a rather welcome one there.

Even before the shift, though, MNF has been performing well on ESPN so far this season. The network had the benefit of showing the two-time defending champion Chiefs [[link removed]] this past Monday, drawing an average audience of 15.91 million, marking its highest figure for a non-ABC simulcast game since 2019, while a season-opening game involving the Jets and 49ers drawing an average of 20.5 million was the second-best Week 1 figure in ESPN’s 19 years with MNF. The network, however, has not released a year-over-year viewership comparison as MNF doubleheaders held during Weeks 3 and 4 have skewed such analysis [[link removed]].

Overall, though, the NFL has posted a 1% overall viewership lift for the 2024 season [[link removed]] so far.

ESPN’s total, 25-game NFL lineup for the 2024 season (including the playoffs) now includes 17 contests either simulcast or shown exclusively on ABC, seven tied specifically to ESPN, and one exclusive to ESPN+.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY How the PWHL is Changing Hockey

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Hockey is back, and for the Professional Women’s Hockey League, that means a very important second season. Minnesota Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield joins the show to explain why the success of the PWHL is essential for the future of hockey and other women’s sports.

Plus, we check in on developing sports media offerings for Latino consumers, and why increasing representation and reach to that demographic will underline the future of broadcasting.

Watch, listen, and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

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One Big Fig The Old College Try

The Register Guard

$200,000

The combined amount of money two students have won over the past two weeks on Pat McAfee’s field goal challenge during ESPN’s College GameDay. On Saturday in Eugene, an Oregon student made his second 33-yard attempt [[link removed]], with $100,000 on the line. Last week in Berkeley, a sophomore from Cal also made his second attempt [[link removed]], good for $100,000.

Status Report Three Up, One Push

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Tom Brady ⬆ The seven-time Super Bowl champion and current Fox Sports NFL analyst is expected to be approved as a new minority investor in the Raiders [[link removed]] on Tuesday, according to ESPN. Brady’s bid is on the agenda at owners meetings set to take place in Atlanta.

WNBA Finals ⬆ The Lynx’ 95–93 victory over the Liberty on Thursday drew 1.1 million viewers, marking the league championship series’ most-watched Game 1 audience on record. Figures from Game 2 on Sunday are not yet available.

Ruth Chepngetich ⬆ The Kenyan long-distance runner broke the women’s marathon world record [[link removed]] on Sunday, finishing the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:56. She became the first woman to break the 2:10 mark in the 26.2-mile race

Colorado ⬆⬇ The Buffaloes dropped to 4–2 on the season after a 31–28 loss to Kansas State on Saturday night, but Boulder once again looked like the Hollywood of college football. Celebrities on the sideline supporting head coach Deion Sanders and co. included current and former athletes Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, John Wall, CC Sabathia, and Terrell Owens, as well as rapper Cam’ron.

Conversation Starters Oregon defeated Ohio State 32–31 Saturday night in front of 60,129 fans—the largest crowd ever at Autzen Stadium, which normally seats closer to 55,000. Take a look [[link removed]]. Earlier on Saturday, West Virginia invited local coal miners to lead them onto Mountaineer Field before kickoff against Iowa State. Watch here [[link removed]]. High school football stadiums just keep getting better. Check out [[link removed]] these new suites in Gainesville, Georgia. Editors’ Picks ‘This Is My Whole Life’: How Swifties Became NFL Superfans [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The “Chiefties” have arrived. And they are “fully committed” to football. The NIL Era Is a Wild West. Is Anyone Surprised? [[link removed]]by Daniel Roberts [[link removed]]Amateurism is dead and college athletes are professionals. How’s that working out? Olympic Sprinter Sues New Balance Over ‘Cracked’ Shoes [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Khamica Bingham is a two-time Olympic sprinter for Canada. Question of the Day

Should the NFL award Super Bowl hosting duties to an international venue?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Friday’s result: 47% of respondents were most excited about the Ohio State–Oregon matchup among Saturday’s college football games.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Written by David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Or Moyal [[link removed]], Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]]

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