After several years of lower ratings, the audience delivery for the 2024 World Series rebounded. Every game delivered a sizable percent double-digit increase from the corresponding game of 2023.
The primary reason for the ratings turnaround were the two teams; the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. The teams play in the two largest television markets accounting for over 10% of the U.S. population. Playing on each coast 3,000 miles apart, both teams have a strong national fanbase. For the 2024 regular season, each club had the best record in their respective league. It was also the first World Series appearance for marquee players Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. Furthermore, the Dodgers and Yankees have the greatest World Series rivalry having now met twelve teams dating back to 1941.
The five-game series won by the Dodgers averaged 15.8 million viewers across Fox platforms, a +74% increase from last year’s World Series. The five-game 2023 World Series (Texas vs. Arizona) was least watched to date, averaging 9.08 million viewers. Furthermore, it was the most watched Fall Classic since the seven-game 2017 World Series (Houston vs. L.A. Dodgers). While the ratings were stronger compared to recent Fall Classic’s they are a fraction of the viewers that watched the 1981 World Series, the last time these two teams met (41.4 million).
The first game averaged 15.2 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes, Univision and streaming. Not only was it a +62% increase from the first game of the 2023 World Series which averaged 9.4 million, it was also the most watched World Series Game 1 audience since 2017. It was also the most watched World Series game since 2019 (Washington vs. Houston). The game went into extra innings, when Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman ended it with a walk-off grand slam home run in the tenth inning. Nielsen said ratings peaked during the tenth inning at 17.8 million
For the second game, the average audience dipped to 13.4 million viewers across Fox platforms. Despite the fall-off from the first game, it was the most watched Game 2 since 2018 (Boston vs. L.A. Dodgers). The audience delivery was also +64% higher compared to the second Series game of 2023 which averaged only 8.15 million viewers. Toward the end of the game, won by the Dodgers, the audience peaked at 16.4 million viewers. One reason for the lower ratings was the game went head-to-head against several televised college football games.
In Game 3, again, won by the Dodgers, the average audience was 13.6 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming. The Game 3 average audience was a +63% increase from the 2023 Series (8.13 million). The average audience for Game 3 peaked at 14.25 million from 9-9:15 p.m. (ET). Of note, game 3 averaged a higher audience than NFL Monday Night Football (Pittsburgh vs. N.Y. Giants) on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN2 and streaming. The MNF game averaged 13.4 million viewers.
The New York Yankees won the fourth game of the World Series. With no competition from the NFL or college football, along with a potential four-game sweep by the Dodgers, the average audience improved to 16.3 million viewers, across Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming. The average viewership marked a healthy +92% rise from Game 4 in 2023. The average audience peaked at 18.2 million from 10-10:15 p.m. (ET). In addition, it was the most watched Game 4 since 2016 (Chicago Cubs vs. Cleveland) as well as the most watched World Series contest ever since Game 7 of the 2019 World Series.
As anticipated, the fifth and final game of the World Series was the top rated with an average audience of 18.6 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming. This marked a +58% increase from last year’s deciding Game 5 which averaged 11.5 million viewers. It was the most watched Game 5 since 2017 (18.9 million viewers). Once again, it was the most watched World Series game since Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. Viewing peaked at 21 million during the 11:15 p.m. (ET) time period as the Dodgers, coming back from a five-run deficit earlier in the game, were on the verge of winning the 2024 World Series.
Freddie Freeman, who hit a home run in each of the first four games, was named MVP. Since Freeman hit a home run in the last two games of the 2021 World Series, when he played for Atlanta, he set a World Series record by hitting a home run in six consecutive Series games.
While viewing for the World Series has increased notably in the U.S., in Japan they are setting viewing records even with a 17-hour time difference from Los Angeles. Start times in Japan were 9 a.m. when many are either at school or work. Nonetheless, Major League Baseball reports the first two games of the World Series has averaged 15.2 million viewers, an audience larger than in the U.S. Driving interest in Japan has been the presence of Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers. The Dodgers will start the 2025 season playing the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo.
Another positive takeaway for MLB had been the heightened interest by younger age groups in the U.S. While total viewing has been on the upswing for the World Series, for the 18-34 age group the average audience had nearly doubled at +93% from last year’s Fall Classic. The growth was the highest of any demographic. In addition, for the first two games of the World Series, MLB reports their social media platforms have had 345 million views, a +229% increase from 2023 and 25 million engagements had been up year-over-year by +225%.
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