Coming off an emotional Subway Series and the Jets playing on Monday Night Football, I was curious to see what the Mets ratings were against the NFL. I wasn’t shocked when the NFL has the better night:

Combined @ESPN and local TV rating for Indy market Monday night: 32.2% of homes. Combined rating in NY market: 13.5.

— Neil Best (@sportswatch) September 22, 2015

My first impression was I wasn’t surprised. Right now all Indy has is the Colts. New York has the Mets and Yankees in pennant races, and they were both playing last night. The Yankees have a huge series against the Blue Jays. I decided to dig deeper and see who watched what:

To answer good question from @Froikey: Seahawks-Packers on NBC beat Yankees-Mets on ESPN in NY market – 9.4% of homes to 8.1.

— Neil Best (@sportswatch) September 21, 2015

Unsurprisingly, the NFL had the better night. Wait!  What?  Those are Sunday night’s numbers. The Giants and Jets weren’t playing. The Mets and Yankees are in pennant races. There was the whole Matt Harvey angle. This lost to Seahwaks-Packers in September?  I mean, I knew the NFL reigned supreme, but New York?

How can New York hold itself out as a great sports city when it can’t support its local teams when they’re good?  What’s MLB’s plan of attack to counteract this?  New York is baseball. It’s the home of “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.”  It’s where Jackie Robinson changed sports forever. It’s now the place where football reigns supreme. 

I’m still raising my son to be a Mets fan.  Right now, he loves baseball and the Mets. He watched Sunday night with me. Seemingly, we were the only ones.