MLB playoff TV ratings steady with LCS matchups
MLB’s league championship series are producing solid ratings after seeing declines during the first two rounds.
According to Nielsen, the LCS English and Spanish broadcasts for the first two games are averaging 5.2 million, which is even with last year.
The LCS ratings are holding steady despite not having a team from New York, Chicago or Los Angeles — the country’s three largest TV markets — in the round for the first time since 2014. The teams with the five best regular-season records are also watching from home.
“I do believe variety is a good thing for our sports. You look at other sports, they have the same mix,” commissioner Rob Manfred said on ESPN’s “First Take” before the postseason. “We have 30 markets. Everyone has to have a chance to compete.”
Texas‘ 2-0 victory over Houston in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 15 averaged 7.27 million on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming. That was the most viewed opening game of the ALCS since 2010 when the Rangers faced the New York Yankees and averaged 8.11 million. It also marked a 28% increase from last year’s first game between the Astros and Yankees.
Last Sunday’s game benefited from a strong lead-in with Fox having an NFL doubleheader. The late afternoon window on Fox averaged 26.09 million, including the New York Jets‘ upset win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The early numbers are good news after the wild-card round on ESPN and ABC was down 18% from last year. The division series on TBS, Fox and FS1 were off 8.8%.
The wild-card games saw declines because they took place during the middle of the week instead of the weekend, like last year.
This year’s division round featured no series that went the full five games and had two sweeps. This year’s run differential was 3.85 per game compared to last year’s 2.5.
However, the Philadelphia Phillies making the National League Championship Series for the second straight year helped bolster ratings. The Phillies-Atlanta Braves series averaged 4.6 million viewers, making it the most watched NLDS on TBS in eight years.
The Phillies’ 10-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Tuesday’s second game of the NLCS averaged 5.3 million on TBS, TruTV and Max.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and safety DeShon Elliott have agreed to a two-year, $12.5 million extension with $9.21 million guaranteed, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Elliott, 28, was one of the Steelers’ best run defenders last year with 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 4 tackles for loss and 108 combined tackles.
NFL Network first reported the deal.
A former sixth-round pick, Elliott spent his first four seasons in the league with the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions before joining the Miami Dolphins for one year.
The Steelers signed Elliott as a free agent to a two-year deal before the 2024 season.
He has 395 tackles in 72 career games.
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Tisha Thompson
Ippei Mizuhara, the disgraced former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, is in federal prison in Pennsylvania, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons told ESPN on Monday.
Mizuhara, 40, was ordered to surrender to federal authorities by Monday. He is in custody at Federal Correctional Institution Allenwood Low, a low-security facility, after being sentenced to 57 months in prison for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani.
Mizuhara was initially ordered to report to prison in March, but a federal judge granted the delay. The reasons for the delay remain under seal.
Mizuhara’s attorney declined ESPN’s request for comment, but previously stated that he expects Mizuhara, a Japanese citizen, to eventually be deported.
The Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March 2024 after an ESPN investigation revealed he sent millions in wire transfers from Ohtani’s account to an illegal bookmaker. He pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return in June 2024, admitting that he placed about 19,000 bets with the bookie over a two-year period and accumulated over $40 million in debt.
The bookmaker, Mathew Bowyer, pleaded guilty in August to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and subscribing a false tax return. He is awaiting sentencing.
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