Game 1 of World Series drew smallest TV audience in history

Even in a pandemic, the early television ratings for this year's World Series aren't a pretty sight for Major League Baseball.

Game 1 of the Fall Classic between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays drew a record-low average of 9.2 million viewers on Fox, according to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. That represents the smallest audience for a World Series game since sports broadcasts began measuring ratings.

The previous record for the lowest viewership of a World Series contest was Game 3 of the 2008 Fall Classic, which also featured the Rays.

Game 1's ratings also represented a 25% drop in viewers from last year's series opener, according to Paulsen of Sports Media Watch.

Still, there was at least one positive for baseball on the television front. The 9.2 million viewers Tuesday gave MLB the third-largest audience for a non-NFL sporting event since the pandemic began in March, per Paulsen. Game 1 of the World Series also outdrew the opening game of this year's NBA Finals by 21%, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.

First pitch of Wednesday's Game 2 between the Dodgers and Rays is set to begin at 8:08 p.m. ET.