Major League Baseball saw a nice uptick in viewership this season, but the same cannot be said for the Pirates.
According to Maury Brown at Forbes, viewership for Pirates games this season dropped 34%, tied with the Angels for the the third-largest decrease. The only two that were worse were the Mariners (36%) and Red Sox (54%).
As a whole, MLB saw a 4% increase in viewership, despite its television ratings actually being down. That's because Nielsen is now tracking digital viewership as well as television, which takes into account those who may have cut the cord on cable but still watch through a streaming service. That's partly why viewership between ages 18-34 saw a 53% increase this year. Overall, every demographic Forbes tracked saw an increase.
Not so for the Pirates, who just completed their first year of a new deal with AT&T SportsNet. The terms of that deal, which was inked last October, were never released.
Verizon announced this week that its contract with AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh expired, and that the two sides have yet to reach an agreement. The station is also the home of the Penguins, who are expected to have their season start in December or January.
For years, the Pirates had enjoyed strong local ratings and viewership, but this marks the second straight season with a significant drop. The club finished with the worst record in baseball this season, and after struggling early, people simply did not tune in as much to watch a team finish in last place for a second straight year.
Brown did suggest that these numbers could fluctuate more than usual the next couple years for a multitude of reasons, the most obvious being this was a 60-game season rather than the usual 162. Regardless, having viewership drop by one-third is never a good look.