Despite the buzz surrounding Alex Rodriguez’s final game in pinstripes, the television ratings were a major disappointment.
Supplementing the Olympic games with a national telecast of Alex Rodriguez’s farewell was probably not FOX’s greatest decision.
Consequently, the broadcast of the Friday night’s Yankees vs. Rays game from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx reportedly received a 0.7 rating and merely one million viewers. If you are unfamiliar with TV ratings, that is suspected to be the least watched MLB broadcast on an ‘over-the-air’ network such as FOX.
Sure, there was substantial hype, but there are factors to consider here. The Yankees and Rays are two teams — particularly Tampa Bay — considered to be out of contention. Of course, there were the Olympics going on as well.
However, one of the direct detriments being left out of the equation is the fact that it was a non-exclusive national broadcast, with the YES Network pulling away approximately 368,000 sets of eyes.
Granted, the farewell was certainly must-see TV. Perhaps it was just bad timing.
