The World Series is off to a strong start on Fox, with Saturday night’s Yankees-Dodgers matchup netting the best Game 2 viewership since 2018.
Despite a dip in viewership from Game 1 (15.2 million versus 13.4 million), which went to extra innings in a first victory to the Brooklyn-turned-LA team, Fox is making good on its record-breaking coverage of the annual MLB championship series.
With two games in tow and just as many triumphs for the Dodgers (which the team hopes to repeat in Game 3 following a shoulder injury for superstar designated hitter Shohei Ohtani), the 2024 World Series is averaging 14.5 million viewers across all networks — its best start in seven years.
The audience peaked with 16.35 million viewers from 8 p.m. PT to the game’s conclusion. Fox noted that the second matchup was up more than 65% from last year’s, during which only 8.2 million viewers tuned in. The last most-viewed Game 2 saw the Red Sox win 4-2 over the Dodgers, netting 13.5 million watchers.
As Deadline previously reported, this World Series will likely be the most-watched in years. The championship has been on a bit of a decline, especially since 2020, the last time the Dodgers won (not receiving a parade as a result of the pandemic), experiencing the lowest audiences ever.
This year’s Series, which will continue with Game 3 at Yankees Stadium in the Bronx, features two of the oldest ball clubs with storied franchises and built-in generations of fans going head-to-head. The last time the Yankees and Dodgers played against each other was in 1981.
