The Dodgers-Yankees World Series reaches nearly 16 million viewers on Fox

The Dodgers' World Series game against the New York Yankees gave Fox the expected ratings boost.

Nielsen data showed the five-game series that ended Wednesday with a 7-6 Dodgers win averaged 15.8 million viewers.

That number is up 74% from last year's five-game series, when the Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The showdown between the Dodgers and Yankees delivered the largest audience in a five-game series since 2015, when an average of 14.5 million viewers watched the Kansas City Royals win over the New York Mets. It was the most-watched series ever since the Houston Astros beat the Dodgers in seven games in 2017.

Fox benefited from having teams in the two largest TV markets. It was also a platform for the game's two biggest stars, Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers and Aaron Judge of the Yankees. Both are the favorites to win the Most Valuable Player award in their respective leagues.

The last time the Dodgers faced the Yankees in the Fall Classic was in 1981. The Dodgers won that series four games to two.

The short series prevented Fox from watching the decisive seventh game of the World Series, which has drawn up to 40 million viewers in the past. But every game in the 2024 game outperformed comparable competitions in recent years.

Wednesday's decisive game produced an average of 18.6. Millions of viewers nationwide. In Los Angeles, the game was seen by 21.1% of TV households in the market. In New York it was 14.8%.

Game 4, the Yankees' only win, averaged 16.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game since 2019.

Game 3 of the Fall Classic pitted itself against an NFL “Monday Night Football” contest on ABC and ESPN. The 13.6 million viewers who watched Fox exceeded the 13.4 million viewers who watched the Pittsburgh Steelers' 26-16 victory over the New York Giants.