The 2024 World Series may have been short, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees still proved they can draw viewers.
Game 5 of the World Series averaged 18.6 million viewers across Fox’s streaming services, Fox Deportes and Fox, the network announced, making it the most-watched Game 5 on Fox since the 2017 World Series. The Dodgers won the match 7-6 and thus won their eighth title.
The numbers represent a 58% increase from Game 5 of last year’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, continuing a trend that started with Game 1. With a title within reach, Los Angeles recorded the higher local statistics than New York, with a rating of 21.1 and a share of 55.
Viewership peaked between 11:15 and 11:30 PM ET on Thursday, about the time the Dodgers took the lead in the top of the eighth inning and had Blake Treinen defend that lead with a scoreless frame.
Overall, the World Series averaged 15.8 million viewers per game, the highest in the league since 2017.
It’s for that reason that Fox probably wishes the Yankees would last a little longer. The network reportedly generated an average of $44.3 million in ad revenue in its first five games, with the potential for an even higher number in Games 6 and 7.
However, that is only half the story of the ratings. Then there’s the matter of Japan, who posted record numbers in the first two games of the series. Considering national hero Shohei Ohtani was on the verge of a breakout title in Games 4 and 5, the numbers for that region should be even higher when they come in.
It might be worth asking how numbers from just seven years ago are a win for the MLB, as it’s hard to imagine a better possible matchup from a ratings standpoint, but the league is struggling for years with a decline in the number of viewers throughout the television sector.
The period since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has been particularly tough on the sports industry, so almost every major competition will continue where it was seven years ago. Except, of course, the NFL.