Fox banks on Northeast to anchor Series ratings

[October 27, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Fox Sports president Ed Goren said he wasn't worried that interest in the World Series matchup between New York and Philadelphia would be limited to a small swath of the country.

The Yankees have too much national appeal.

"I don't think there will be a negative effect on our ratings," he said Monday.

The Yankees-Mets crosstown series in 2000 drew the lowest rating of the six World Series involving the Yankees since 1996. But the 12.4 was still higher than all but one of the non-New York series since -- in 2004, when the Red Sox broke an 86-year championship drought by beating the Cardinals.

Goren said even if interest is largely limited to a few states in the Northeast -- only 100 miles separate New York from Philadelphia, that's not such a bad thing.

New York is by far the largest market in the country, with nearly 7.5 million homes with televisions, according to Nielsen. Philadelphia ranks fourth with almost 3 million households. The New York market is more than four times larger than Tampa-St. Petersburg, home of the Phillies' opponent last year, the Rays.

[Associated Press]

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