World Series TV ratings soared after NBA Finals, attracting highest viewership since 2017

The highly anticipated 2024 World Series may have only lasted five games, but it still attracted a lot of attention from around the world.

Wednesday’s Game 5 showdown between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees averaged 18.6 million viewers across the FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports streaming services, the network’s PR team said Thursday. The audience peaked at 21.3 million for the final inning, just as the Dodgers went 7–6 and won their second championship in five years.

That makes this the most watched Game 5 since 2017, when the Dodgers faced the Houston Astros. That’s a 58% increase from Game 5 of the 2023 World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Overall, the 2024 World Series averaged 15.8 million viewers, also the best since 2017. This is 67% more than last year.

The surge in interest extended to surrounding programming, with FOX’s World Series pregame coverage receiving its highest ratings since 2021. Overall, the MLB postseason on FOX and FS1 received 42% higher ratings than 2023 and only trailed again in 2017.

In addition to the World Series attracting its largest audience in seven years, baseball has also established itself as a key cultural moment compared to other major sporting events.

As noted Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles TimesThe World Series’ average viewership of 15.8 million viewers eclipsed the 11.3 million average viewership for the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks.

None of this includes the record number of players coming from Japan, where Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto took center stage for the Dodgers.

All the stars and major brands did what was expected of them at this year’s Fall Classic, no doubt making MLB and FOX executives happy. And although the series was shorter than many expected, it still had plenty of drama to satisfy the millions of fans who also watched it.

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