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Monday night was a very busy one on the sports calendar and two broadcasts, in particular, battled it out for the top spot on the night. In a very closely contested race, Major League Baseball on FOX won the night over the NFL on ESPN by a score of 13.6 million average viewers to 13.4 million average viewers based on various reports.
The Monday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers was a low-scoring affair which was tied at 9 at halftime and finished with the Steelers winning 26-18 to improve to 6-2 on the season, dropping the Giants to 2-6. This will be the only direct competition between the NFL during the World Series, which can finish tonight or at the latest on Friday or Saturday.
ESPN aired the football broadcast, and it was simulcast on ABC. The viewership number also includes those watching the ManningCast on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes as well as ESPN and NFL Streaming services.
For Game 3 of the World Series, the combined viewership number includes those watching on FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Streaming services, which gets to the total of 13.6 million.
Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch notes last year, the same head-to-head matchup ended in a knockout by the Monday Night Football Game. The football game drew more than 15 million average viewers while Game 3 of the Texas Rangers-Arizona Diamondback series brought in just over 8 million. That makes this year an improvement of 63% for baseball while football saw a decline of 12%.
