J.C. Bradbury examines the myth that the 2010 World Series takes place between small market teams:
First, while Dallas and San Francisco may not have the historical cache as big markets, they are not small markets. According to Nielsen, Dallas and San Francisco are the fifth and sixth largest television markets in the country.
Remember, too, that Fox just paid a great deal of money for a long term contract to broadcast Rangers games locally. With California and Texas the two most populous states in the country, I suspect there will be lots of people watching. Astros fans should tune in because they love Nolan Ryan as much as the Rangers. Padres and Dodgers fans might tune in to see the Giants lose.
Ratings tend to be high when the series goes a long way. Game seven, no matter what teams are playing, tend to be a big draw. If the series is competitive, people will watch.
As a Yankees fan, I’ve noticed an trend to label as a “small market” team any team where the owners will not spend alot of money on player salaries. I’ve not yet seen the Mets labelled as a “small market team”, but expect to, given that I’ve seen both Chicago teams described as such in the newspapers over the past two decades.
The only genuine small market teams are teams like the Pirates that actually play in small, economically depressed cities, and in fact it could be only the Pirates that genuinely qualify for the description.