"Zoom in: Saturday night's nail-biter between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers is likely to draw more viewers when final Nielsen ratings are released on Tuesday. It's unlikely the final figure will surpass the 28.24 million people who tuned into game seven of the 2017 World Series, but it could be close. The first two games of the World Series each averaged more than 30 million viewers across Canada, the U.S. and Japan, making the largest combined audience from those countries since 2016."
"A Canadian team participating in the World Series for the first time in more than three decades helped drive record viewership in Canada. A roster of superstar Japanese players on the Dodgers also helped drive record viewership in Japan. Zoom out: The World Series caps a strong season of ratings for the MLB, which has seen viewership surge in response to rule changes that make the game faster and more engaging to follow."
"The 2025 regular season saw double-digit viewership increases across all of the networks that air its national games, including ESPN, Fox Sports, TNT Sports and MLB Network. State of play: MLB is currently finalizing a new set of multi-year distribution deals that will almost certainly be bolstered by strong viewership. The company is reportedly eyeing a package that would see ESPN licensing the league's digital out-of-market games, NBC acquiring all of the league's Sunday night games"
World Series broadcasts attracted exceptionally large audiences, with early games averaging over 30 million viewers across Canada, the U.S., and Japan and Saturday’s Blue Jays–Dodgers game expected to post strong Nielsen ratings. A Canadian team’s first appearance in more than three decades and several Japanese stars on the Dodgers drove record viewership in Canada and Japan. MLB viewership climbed across 2025 regular-season national broadcasts on ESPN, Fox Sports, TNT Sports, and MLB Network after rule changes that sped up play and increased engagement. MLB is finalizing multi-year distribution deals likely bolstered by these ratings, and ESPN and MLB mutually agreed to end their 35-year TV deal after this season.
Read at Axios
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