It's been a combined 60 years since the Orioles (1983) and Royals (1985) each last reached the World Series, the longest combined drought of any ALCS matchup in history (previous record: 59 years combined for Indians and Mariners in 1995 ALCS). But one of them will be there this year, after both clubs completed sweeps of their Division Series on Sunday.
Despite both teams' success throughout the 1970s and early 80s - this is the Orioles' 9th ALCS appearance and the Royals' 7th - this will mark the first time they've ever faced one another in the Postseason.
The action on the field is once again leading to strong TV viewership. The Royals' 8-3 win over the Angels on Sunday drew 4.4 million viewers on TBS, an increase of +29% over the comparable game last year, while the Orioles' 2-1 win over the Tigers earlier in the day drew 3.3 million viewers on TBS, up +14% over its comparable game last year.
Overall, the MLB Postseason as a whole is averaging 3.6 million viewers, an increase of +9% over last year to make it the most-watched MLB Postseason since 2010. In addition, viewership among the 18-34 audience is up +19% over last year through this point.
On the local level, for the third time in the past week, there's a new record local rating for an MLB telecast in Kansas City, with a 33.9 rating for Sunday's game (based on all available data on record). In the 9th inning, 60% of TVs on in Kansas City were tuned to the game. In Baltimore, Sunday's game drew a 20.0 rating, the highest rating for an MLB telecast in the market since Game 5 of the 2012 ALDS vs. the Yankees.
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