• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, November 1, 2010

The NFL has proven to be the new American pastime again -- with ratings for a regular-season game Sunday night outperforming the World Series by 13%. The ratings are for 56 large markets, however, and World Series game four could receive a lift when final numbers are delivered. Still, it is unlikely to top the NFL.  

That would mark a reversal from the last time the NFL went head-to-head against the World Series, where both games were on broadcast TV. On Oct. 21, 1996, an NFL "Monday Night Football" game on ABC trailed the New York-Atlanta World Series game on Fox by 17%.

On Sunday, NBC drew an 11.8 household rating for "Sunday Night Football's" New Orleans-Pittsburgh game, above the 10.4 for the World Series game on Fox.

In 1996, game two of the Series posted a 14 household rating on Fox (in final numbers), 17% higher than Oakland-San Diego on ABC.

Baseball's San Francisco-Texas World Series this year hasn't been the most attractive matchup. The games lack star power -- unless each team's top pitcher is on the mound. That will happen Monday evening when the game goes against ESPN's "Monday Night Football." Airing the NFL on cable coming close to the Series on Fox would be another brush-back for baseball.

Over the past four years, NBC's contract with the NFL gave it 16 regular-season games, so the network took the first Sunday night of the World Series off. But NBC's new contract with the NFL gives it an extra week of "Sunday Night Football," leading to the faceoff.

Barring some sort of dynamic World Series featuring celebrity players or the New York Yankees, the NFL appears to be in position to win the ratings game going forward. In an interview last spring, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said it was appropriate to "allow the consumer to be able to choose whether they want to watch 'Sunday Night Football' or the World Series."