Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
By Drew Lerner on

Despite featuring a team located north of the border, Fox is turning in strong viewership for this year’s Fall Classic.

Games 1 and 2 of the World Series featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays attracted large audiences, Fox announced on Tuesday. Friday’s Game 1, which saw a monster sixth inning from the Blue Jays quickly turn a tight contest into a blowout, averaged 13.3 million viewers across Fox, Univision, Fox Deportes, and Fox’s digital platforms. Saturday’s Game 2, which saw the Dodgers level the series, averaged 11.6 million viewers across the same networks and streamers, minus Univision.

On Fox alone, Games 1 and 2 averaged 12.3 million and 11.4 million viewers respectively. Univision clearly provided a substantial bump for the opener, seeing as the aggregate viewership in Game 2 came much closer to the Fox-only number.

Both games would’ve set multiyear highs if not for the high-octane series between the Dodgers and Yankees last season. Game 1 of last year’s series averaged 14.2 million viewers, while Game 2 averaged 13.7 million viewers. Excluding 2024, Game 1 was the most-watched since 2018, while Game 2 was the most-watched since 2019.

It’s important to note, this year’s World Series is the first to be measured using both Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel methodology and expanded out-of-home viewing, which went into effect in September and February respectively. Both updates have served to increase viewership for live sporting events versus historical data.

Considering the Blue Jays are competing in this year’s World Series, meaning that Fox only has one home market to rely on instead of two (the World Series is airing on Sportsnet in Canada, which is not included in Nielsen’s measurements), Fox has to be pleased with the results thus far. Even accounting for the Nielsen changes, this year’s audience would far outnumber Diamondbacks-Rangers in 2023 (8.66 million viewers through two games), and would be pretty equivalent, if not a smidge above, Astros-Phillies in 2022 and Astros-Braves in 2021 (11.14 million viewers and 10.68 million viewers through two games).

For reference, Game 1 averaged 7 million viewers in Canada, with Game 2 averaging 6.6 million viewers. As such, combined viewership between the U.S. and Canada is likely much higher than normal.

And with viewership for a marathon 18-inning tilt in Game 3 still to come, momentum for this series is only building. Should the Blue Jays be able to win another game, thus forcing at least a Game 6, Fox is in for another strong run of World Series audiences this year.

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.

View all posts by Drew Lerner