{"id":930423,"date":"2026-10-16T16:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T16:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/930423\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T16:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T16:02:11","slug":"chicago-white-sox-viewership-surges-to-highest-since-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/930423\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago White Sox viewership surges to highest since 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

The White Sox\u2019s playoff push this year<\/a> \u201cbrought fans back to their screens\u201d as the team\u2019s viewership \u201creached its highest level since 2022,\u201d before the White Sox launched Chicago Sports Network, according to Justin Kaufmann of AXIOS. White Sox games across all platforms averaged 84,800 viewers, up 168% from last year, per CHSN. The year-over-year increase was the \u201clargest among MLB teams.\u201d As the Sox neared the playoffs, \u201cviewership surged\u201d — August and September games averaged 112,000 viewers, 78% higher than March through May. Streaming audiences \u201cgrew fivefold compared with last year.\u201d The season\u2019s most-watched game was the Aug. 17 Crosstown Series matchup against the Cubs, which drew 245,900 viewers (AXIOS, 10\/15<\/a>).<\/p>\n

THE ONE TIME\u2026: In Chicago, Jeff Agrest wrote White Sox TV voice John Schriffen was in \u201cLas Vegas for a UFC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu event\u201d the day the team clinched its postseason spot. For Schriffen, it would have \u201cbeen the capstone\u201d on the season. Connor McKnight filled in alongside Steve Stone and \u201cdid a fine job calling the clincher,\u201d but Schriffen\u2019s absence \u201chad to touch a nerve with Sox brass.\u201d Even though he was contractually allowed to take a certain number of games off, \u201cdid he have to take that game off?\u201d The Sox \u201ccouldn\u2019t have liked the optics of its TV voice choosing to be elsewhere than at a potential clincher.\u201d If Schriffen wanted to return, missing that game \u201ccouldn\u2019t have helped.\u201d Schriffen \u201cis just not a baseball broadcaster,\u201d as his style is \u201cmore suited for the UFC than MLB.\u201d Schriffen\u2019s contract has an option for next season. If the Sox do not pick up his option, their plans could be impacted by \u201chow much of a season there is next year.\u201d If it looks like Opening Day will be delayed significantly, they could \u201chold off for a year on hiring someone and put someone already on the payroll in the booth\u201d (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 10\/15<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The White Sox\u2019s playoff push this year \u201cbrought fans back to their screens\u201d as the team\u2019s viewership \u201creached…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,4034,591,85,23871],"class_list":["post-930423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-white-sox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}