Major League Baseball’s dream postseason seems to be backed up by the viewership data.
Fox’s coverage of the NLCS featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers’ series win over the New York Mets averaged 5.63 million viewers on Fox and FS1, the most-watched LCS the network has aired since the 2019 ALCS between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros (5.83 million viewers).
.@MLBONFOX hits an #NLCS homerun! ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/SMi2YVpElz
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) October 22, 2024
In percentage terms, Fox’s NLCS coverage increased by 20% year-over-year versus its coverage of last year’s ALCS (Texas Rangers-Houston Astros) and 21% versus the last time the network aired the NLCS in 2022 (Philadelphia Phillies-San Diego Padres).
To date, Fox is having its most-watched postseason since 2017. Fox and FS1 are averaging 4.73 million viewers per game, up 33% versus this same point last year.
Viewership should only get better for the network as it prepares to broadcast one of the most anticipated World Series in recent memory. Not only is Fox getting both the New York and Los Angeles markets — the two largest television markets in the United States — for the second straight series, but the network is also getting the two biggest stars in baseball; Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.
It is a near certainty that the upcoming World Series will set a multi-year viewership high, likely improving Fox’s overall postseason numbers past what they currently are.
The only question is how high will it go?
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.