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For second game in a row, Dodgers-Rays World Series sets all-time record for low viewership

Two games into the 2020 World Series, and the score of the series is Los Angeles Dodgers 1, Tampa Bay Rays 1, MLB ratings 0.

Wednesday’s Game 2 of the World Series drew only 8.950 viewers, according to Awful Announcing, making it the least-watched World Series game of all time. It breaks a record set just 24 hours earlier, when Game 1 opened the Fall Classic with a ratings thud.

Those viewers saw a strong win from the Rays to even the series, which will resume with Game 3 on Friday.

Obviously, those ratings are not welcome news for MLB, though — as previously noted — the league is not alone in feeling the hurt with ratings following the pandemic hiatus. The NBA Finals set its own ignominious record this same month.

There are many reasons for the national ratings decline being seen in many sports, though it’s worth noting those ratings are only one way of measuring the health of a sport.

Tampa Bay Rays' Brandon Lowe celebrates a two-run home run off Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May during the fifth inning in Game 2 of the baseball World Series Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Even fewer people turned into Game 2 of the World Series. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

MLB’s ratings could improve if the series stays competitive, but for now, it seems in danger of shattering the record for lowest average viewership of a World Series. Awful Announcing notes that the lowest average viewership on record is 12.636 million viewers for the 2012 World Series, which was a San Francisco Giants sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

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