The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. Two of the most iconic franchises in all of sports, and the preeminent "big market" teams in baseball. The employers of Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, the presumed 2024 MLB MVPs. The proud owners of the league's second and third-highest payrolls, respectively. This World Series is a clash of Goliath v. Goliath, and baseball fans around the world should be excited for what awaits them in this upcoming best-of-seven series.
However, no one is happier to see these teams match up than the executives at Fox. It's no secret that baseball television ratings have struggled in recent years, hence the league's addition of pace-of-play enhancers like the pitch clock. Last year's World Series, between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, averaged a record-low 9.1 million viewers per game. That's simply unacceptable for the sport's biggest stage, especially when considering that a less-than marquee matchup in the 2023 NBA Finals (the Denver Nuggets versus the Miami Heat) averaged 11.6 million viewers.
Television ratings aren't the be-all end-all metric they used to be—streaming numbers, view counts on highlights posted to social media, and evergreen web content all serve as other means for the league and network to bring in revenue—but they still represent something meaningful: how much the public cares about the sport.
In 2001, the last time the Diamondbacks made the World Series before 2023, they upset the heavily-favored Yankees, and averaged 24.3 million viewers on live television. In 2011, the last time the Rangers had made it to the Fall Classic before 2023, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in heartbreaking fashion, averaging 16.5 million viewers.
Of course, the Yankees and Cardinals—the two winningest franchises in World Series history—have some huge pull within their respective geographic demography and attract a lot of viewers because of their consistent success. However, the fall off in ratings from those series in 2001 and 2011 to 2023 can hardly be explained by the popularity of streaming services or the brand value of the franchises playing in baseball's championship round.
One thing to note about both that 2001 and 2011 World Series is that they went the distance, all the way to Game 7. Naturally, Game 7's always have the highest ratings in their respective series, driving up the average viewership. There's just something tantalizing about a do-or-die situation in the final game of the year that nabs the attention of even the most casual fan.
Year | World Series Matchup | Average T.V. Ratings | Game 7 Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Diamondbacks-Yankees | 24.3 million | 39.1 million |
2002 | Angels-Giants | 19.4 million | 30.8 million |
2011 | Cardinals-Rangers | 16.5 million | 25.4 million |
2014 | Giants-Royals | 13.9 million | 23.5 million |
2016 | Cubs-Guardians | 22.8 million | 40.1 million |
2017 | Astros-Dodgers | 18.7 million | 28.2 million |
2019 | Nationals-Astros | 14.0 million | 23.0 million |
Yankees-Dodgers World Series ratings should break recent high water marks
While it would behoove the executives over at Fox to try and fix the series so that it goes to Game 7, they aren't going to do that (probably). Instead, they'll have to hope that the quality of these teams is good enough that it'll push the series deep. Of course, it helps that these are the No. 1 seeds in their respective leagues, armed with generational talents in their lineups and the two highest-paid pitchers in baseball fronting the rotations. At the very least, this series should bring more consistent excitement than the League Championship Series did, and all it'll take to draw more eyes on social media feeds is a 400-foot home run from Aaron Judge or Gerrit Cole striking out Shohei Ohtani.
The Yankees and Dodgers are baseball's perfect pairing in the World Series, though not just because of the star talent on their rosters. This is the most common matchup in World Series history—the Yankees lead 8-3 in the previous 11 meetings—though they haven't met since 1981. There's an allure to the biggest teams on each coast of the United States butting heads for the first time in 40-plus years. The fabled "narrative" that drives so much of sports marketing has been missing for most of the last decade, and baseball has been seeking one it hasn't had to force since the Cubs broke their 108-year drought in 2016.
Well, this is it. Ohtani v. Judge. $300 million team v. $300 million team. West Coast v. East Coast. Yankees v. Dodgers. Love 'em or hate 'em, you'll be watching, along with the rest of the world.