Nobody Outside of Philly Cares About the 2008 World Series

Maybe this means more tacos for you and me.

The only World Series opener to have fewer viewers was in 2006, when 12.8 million watched the Detroit Tigers play the St. Louis Cardinals, according to Nielsen Media.

Comments

[Sean R]

I'm not gonna lie; this actually surprises me. Philly is a large market team, and I had assumed that people actually cared about TB's miracle underdog story. Although I have to be honest, I've been watching this game up at school in Boston, and besides my friend (also a Phillies fan) and me, nobody up here gives a flying crap. I figured more people would care.

[timm]

this is exactly why the phils need to win. because if they can't even win a worls series no one cares about including the team they are playing (fan base, not the players) then it ain't ever gonna happen. phils in 6.

[Scott]

I really hate that this ratings garbage is being shoved down our throats. Who Cares? I don't care if people in Denver or Houston watch this Series.

[TB sucks]

it just shows how many fairweather fans are really out there.
Every other year no matter it be the World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup finals or the Super Bowl i would always watch.

[will]

problem is, america wants to see teams that already have post season exposure. tampa and philly could be comprised of 25 all stars a piece and random fans still dont watch because there is no dramatic twist. The only way a team can establish itself is to go through this low-rating adolescent phase where they're finally discovered. It takes a few years of this, as we know.

In the future, a more intriguing matchup might be right at our faces this year.. a remach down the road. By then, it wont be considered David vs. David. These teams are built the right way (old school growth instead of purchasing a WS), baseball fans might take notice sooner or later.

[Eddie Hazel]

Out here in Seattle I'm watching with quite a few Phillies fans and in general people here are pulling for the Phils because of Moyer. He lives here and has a foundation here so the average guy on the street is pulling for us.

[Joe in Haddonfield]

For starters, who cares?

Unless you get a team with rabid and far reaching fans, of course ratings will suffer. Baseball is a regional game.

Also, just like financial figures are adjusted for inflation, ratings should be adjusted for the expanded variety of alternatives to TV.

Video game sales dwarf movie ticket sales, so there's a huge time-suck working against baseball. There are now 100+ channel. DVDs in the mail. Etc.

Also: has MLB looked at the trend of declining viewership against the shift of TV to 8:30 start times? There has to be an ongoing effect of turning your back on a generation of kids. Now those first kids who missed entire post-seasons are adults and not watching.

I'm watching. I don't care who else is. Let the network yahoos worry about that.

[9equals8.com]

If it's just about TV ratings, then why even have "small market" teams? This is the dumbest thing ever, to be talking about ratings. I just saw two classic baseball games that were won with great pitching (both Game 1 and 2) and small ball, for the most part. Defense, pitching and hustle are the way the game used to be. It's kind of nice for a change. GO RAYS!

[will]

nope 9=8 thats sort of what we're chatting about. it could be a 7 game series with 7 of the tightest most interesting games in a long time, yet america wont catch on until these teams become perenial powerhouses. i suspect this is not the last time these two teams will meet in october. makes for a nice rivalry. plus, you guys can take some tips from a fanbase that ressembles racoons with rabbies. the atmosphere wont even compare.

[Documented Sports Picks]

This is what everyone in the media expected. If you talk to TV execs of course they wanted Boston and LA in the series for ratings. Well who gives a shit about ratings? I wouldn't blame these ratings necessarily on the Phillies it just goes to show you that no one cares about the Rays outside of Tampa. Even the TB fans didn't start showing up until postseason.

[Phils in Six]

If I'm not mistaken, until recently, the WS started on a weekend, so ratings for a Wednesday Game 1 are going to be down anyway.

[MSM]

I personally don't care who watches and what the networks think. The only thing that matters to me is in 6 days or less, I can buy a t-shirt and hat that says "Phillies World Champions 2008" and be at a parade with about 3 million other people who DID watch.

[dUb-iLL]

Rate This!! *Grabs Crotch*

As long as the ratings aren't so bad they put re-runs of House and 24 on instead of the game I couldn't care less.

[Sean R.]

It would be nice to see people nationwide to be watching this series, but it's not fair to expect it. I'm watching the series and loving it (save our atrocious problem with RISP), and us, a bunch of rabid Phillies fans loving our team being here, and watching every second of it is what matters in the end. Plus, I honestly think that years from now, this will be considered a classic WS, even if no one's thinking about it that way now.

[Kulp]

This is the first World Series I've watched in 15 years.

[Sylvester]

I'm glad. It's not like they're not going to show the games. That's what fox gets for ruining everything that's good about watching a baseball game.

[i cant stand joe morgan]

the rest of the country is stupid anyways.

[CMart]

I am sure it didn't help that the media talked this thing down before-hand. People don't realize how powerful they can be...

Someone reads an article about how the ratings are going to be bad, and thinking the rest of the population feels this way, decides to go along with the crowd. In reality, it was the media guessing at everything....It's happened in bigger things.....

[DaddyO]

St. Louis got a huge ratings proving once again it is baseball heaven

[will]

''st. louis got a huge ratings?'' are you 5?

[Leroy]

Boston fans are pure garbage. The nation gets a chance tonight to the what real fans look like.