This would have been unthinkable back in 2007, 2008 when the Cubs and White Sox were surging, and the Blackhawks barely registered on the radar in Chicago.
However, times and the teams’ fortunes have changed considerably. So it hardly is a big surprise that in a head-to-head match-up last night, the Blackhawks doubled the rating for a Sox-Cubs game.
Game 6 of the Hawks-Detroit series did a 13.45 local rating on NBC Sports Network; 1 local rating point is the equivalent of approximately 35,000 homes. Meanwhile, the Sox-Cubs did a combined 6.53 rating on WGN-Ch.9 and Comcast Sports Net.
The Hawks rating was the highest ever in Chicago for a conference semifinal game and behind only their two Stanley Cup finals games on NBC Sports Network in 2010.
And that mark won’t last long. The Hawks figure to do a huge number for Game 7 against Detroit Wednesday. There won’t be any competition from baseball on that day. The Sox-Cubs play an afternoon game.