Red Sox Ratings Took A Steep Drop In 2020
BOSTON (CBS) -- There was very little buzz surrounding the 2020 Red Sox, and with the stands at Fenway Park closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, watching them on TV was the only way to see Boston's baseball team. Unsurprisingly, not many people tuned in to watch them go 24-36.
According to a report by Mary Brown in Forbes, the ratings for Red Sox games took a bigger hit than any other team in 2020, dropping 58 percent from what they were in 2019. Ratings for the 2020 campaign fell to a 2.14 share, compared with the 5.15 the team received last year. The Los Angeles Angels saw the second-biggest drop in baseball at 40 percent.
Average viewership of Red Sox games dropped 54 percent from 2019, falling from 158,614 to 72,515, according to Brown. Ouch.
On the flip side, the New York Yankees had the most average viewers in 2020 at 260,592, which was a four percent increase over last season.
Ratings throughout baseball fell 11 percent, while the average viewership increased by 4.2 percent. Brown explained that the difference in those numbers is because Nielsen started tracking more digital viewers this year but fewer households, which hurt the overall ratings but boosted viewership.
The Red Sox finished last in the AL East and had the third-worst record in the American League. As it turns out, not many people wanted to sit down and watch the team reset their luxury tax this season.
