World Series viewers drop 14% in U.S. for first two video games

LOS ANGELES — U.S. viewers for the primary two video games of World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays dropped 14% from final yr’s matchup between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees, however Canadian and Japanese audiences set information.

Last yr’s first two video games averaged 14.55 million and this yr’s first two averaged 12..5 million on Fox, Fox Deportes, Fox One streaming, the Fox Sports app and Univision, Major League Baseball mentioned Tuesday.

MLB mentioned the mixed 32.6 million viewers for the opener within the U.S., Canada and Japan have been its highest because the Chicago Cubs’ ended their 108-year title draught by beating Cleveland in Game 7 of the 2016 Series.

Toronto’s 11-4 win in Game 1 averaged 13,305,000 and Los Angeles’ 5-1 victory in Game 2, which didn’t embody Univision protection, averaged 11.63 million, Fox mentioned.

Los Angeles’ 6-3, 10-inning win in final yr’s opener that ended with Freddie Freeman’s grand slam was seen by 15.2 million, the most-watched Series recreation since 2019. The Dodgers’ 4-2 victory in Game 2 final yr was seen by 13.44 million.

Game 1 this yr drew 7 million viewers in Canada and Game 2 was watched by 6.6 million, the 2 most-watched Blue Jays video games on Sportsnet. The community is owned by Rogers Communications Inc., the mother or father firm of the Blue Jays.

The opener additionally was broadcast with French-language commentary on TVA Sports and drew 502,000, that community’s most-watched recreation.

This yr’s opener averaged 11.8 million on NHK-G, the most-viewed World Series recreation in Japan televised by a single community, and Game 2 averaged 9.5 million on NHK-BS for a two-game Japanese common of 10.7 million.

The two-game common within the U.S., Canada and Japan was 30.5 million.