Rays see large spike in TV ratings following playoff season
TAMPA, Fla. - In a season that saw the team clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2013, the Tampa Bay Rays also saw a huge spike in TV viewership.
Fox Sports released TV ratings for the entire league based off data from Nielsen from March 28 to Sept. 29, the length of the MLB regular season.
This season, the Rays saw a 23 percent increase in TV viewership over last year — the sixth best this season. The Minnesota Twins saw the highest ratings boost with a 65 percent increase in TV viewership this season. Overall, the league saw a 2 percent ratings increase this season.
Those numbers are slightly up from July when the Rays had the 18th best ratings in the league and were seeing a 15 percent year over year ratings increase. Even with the large boost in ratings, the Rays still only had the 16th best ratings in the league. Even the team’s wildcard game against the Oakland Athletics was the least-watched wild card game on ESPN.