The 2024 World Series might have been short, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees still proved they can draw in viewers.
Game 5 of the World Series drew an average 18.6 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming services, the network announced, making it the most-watched Game 5 on Fox since the 2017 World Series. The Dodgers won the game 7-6 to clinch their eighth title.
The numbers are a 58% bump from Game 5 of last year’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, continuing a trend that began with Game 1. With a title in reach, Los Angeles posted the higher local metrics than New York, with a 21.1 rating and 55 share.
Viewership peaked between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, roughly around 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 league’s highest mark since 2017.
It’s for that reason Fox is probably wishing the Yankees lasted a little longer. The network was reportedly averaging $44.3 million in ad revenue in the first five games, with the chance for an even higher number in Games 6 and 7.
That’s only half the story of the ratings bonanza, though. There’s also the matter of Japan, which tuned in with record numbers in the first two games of the series. Considering national hero Shohei Ohtani was on the verge of a breakthrough 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 only seven years ago are a win for MLB given that it’s hard to envision a better possible matchup from a ratings standpoint, but the league has been fighting a television industry-wide decline in viewers for years now.
The period since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has been particularly rough for the sports industry, so nearly any major league will take where it was seven years ago. Except for, of course, the NFL.
