Fox strikes out with ratings for Alex Rodriguez’s last game
Alex Rodriguez raises his cap to the fans during a ceremony to honor him before his final game as a Yankee at Yankee Stadium on Friday, Aug. 12, 2016. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Alex Rodriguez’s final game as a Yankee on Friday night was a ratings dud for Fox.
The network averaged 0.7 percent of homes and 1.0 million viewers, according to the website Sports Media Watch.
It is believed to be the lowest-rated, least-watched Major League Baseball game ever shown on one of the big four broadcast networks.
Sports Media Watch said the prior low was 0.8 percent of homes and 1.1 million viewers on Fox for Derek Jeter’s next-to-last game in 2014.
Fox’s numbers were hurt by the fact Friday night’s game was up against the Fox-owned YES Network’s telecast in the New York area, which siphoned off a season-high 368,000 viewers, as well as the Olympics and a Giants preseason game.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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