The World Series proved to be a ratings boon for Fox Sports — even if it ended too soon for network executives hoping Major League Baseball’s championship would run for the maximum seven games.
Bloomberg reports Fox Sports said Thursday an average of 15.8 million people tuned in each night to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees over the five-game series. LA clinched the championship in New York on Wednesday after beating the Yankees 7-6 in a dramatic comeback. About 18.6 million viewers watched Game 5.
The allure of two big MLB stars, Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge and Dodgers slugger-pitcher Shohei Ohtani, was expected to help draw fans for the series. Game 2, which featured Ohtani alongside another Japanese superstar, Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, actually drew higher ratings in Japan than in the US.
A four-game sweep by the Dodgers would have cost Fox $150 million in lost ad revenue, according to Sportico. Prior to the start of the series, Fox said it sold out its ad positions for the first two games. It had been seeking $450,000 to $500,000 for 30-second spots in the first five.
Both Judge and Ohtani underperformed in the championship. Judge hit his only home run on Wednesday, while Ohtani suffered a shoulder injury in Game 2 that hampered his batting.
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