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Philadelphia Phillies Local TV Ratings Plunge

The Philadelphia Phillies had the best ratings in baseball in 2011, but a .500 season saw the team's TV numbers have the biggest decline of any team in baseball. Nearly 40 percent less viewers watched the team's games this season.

By Rodger Sherman
Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire

The Philadelphia Phillies' ratings dropped from tops in the MLB to seventh, almost a 40 percent decline from 2011.

Its not shocking that the first Phillies team that failed to contend for an NL East title in some time wasn't the most watched club in baseball, but the dropoff is still a drastic one. The team still had the fourth-highest average viewership - 168,000 - of any team in baseball, and the seventh-highest ratings, but the 38.6 percent decline in ratings was the biggest drop in the league.

This was the first Phillies team not to finish in the top two in the NL East since 2003 and first to miss the playoffs since 2006. Although the team went on a brief seven-game win streak in the beginning of September, it didn't bring them close to contention, as they finished 81-81, 17 games out of the NL East lead and seven games behind the second and final NL Wild Card spot.