Ratings Show No One Watched the Rangers Win the World Series

If a team wins a World Series to break a historic title drought but no one is watching, does the championship still count? As far as Major League Baseball and the Texas Rangers are concerned, of course.

Unfortunately for MLB and the second most popular pro baseball team in Texas, the average American probably can’t name a player on the championship-winning Rangers and likely didn’t even know that the Fall Classic ended last night with the first-time champs dispatching the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 to win the World Series, four games to one.

Texas Forever. #WorldSeries

(MLB x @BudweiserUSA) pic.twitter.com/oxzuNOParC
— MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2023

It was a great win for the Rangers, who were one of six MLB franchises to never capture a title prior to last night and set an unprecedented 11-game postseason winning streak on the road which will probably never be broken, but Texas just took home what is set up to be the least-viewed World Series of all time, based on current reporting.

Aside from having two teams that do not have rabid fanbases or national appeal, this year’s World Series was hurt in the ratings department by going up against Week 8’s edition of Monday Night Football and the early stages of the NBA and NHL seasons, as well as the MLS playoffs. For a World Series with little star power — can you name a Ranger or a D-back? — the timing could not have been worse. (If you answered no to that question, Nathan Eovaldi is worth knowing.)

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That being said, MLB made a lot of progress during the 2023 season and the controversial rule changes that were implemented to start the year were an overwhelming success. It’s unfortunate for MLB that it couldn’t have had two, or at least one, noteworthy teams playing in November, but it was still a good season all-around for a pastime that is hoping to find its way back to becoming America’s favorite once again.

Rule changes or not, that will probably never happen as the NFL is king and certainly not interested in sharing its scepter. At least MLB is on its way back to relevance…just ask a fan of the Rangers or Diamondbacks. If you ask anyone else, they won’t know what you’re talking about.