Sports · Baseball · 3 hrs ago
World Series ratings are down 6% after two games
The Brewers and Rays are playing in the World Series, the championship between Major League Baseball’s two best-record teams this season.
Both teams are from smaller markets, leading to concerns that fewer people would watch.
The first two games drew an average of 6% fewer viewers than the first two games of last year’s series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.
Milwaukee won both games, drawing 12.26 million viewers for Game 1 and 10.85 million for Game 2 across the listed TV and streaming services.
Both games were the most-watched broadcasts of their nights, and the audience was above the average for the 2023 series, which set a record low.
Game 3 ratings are the next measure to watch, as Milwaukee’s 10-1 win faced competition from a Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles football game.
Viewership for the first two games of the Milwaukee Brewers-Tampa Bay Rays World Series was down 6% from the same stage last year.
The games averaged 12.26 million viewers for Game 1 and 10.85 million for Game 2 across the listed broadcast and streaming outlets.
Both games were the most-watched broadcasts of their respective nights.
Fox Sports executive Mike Mulvihill said the ratings had surpassed expectations.
The matchup features the two teams with the best records in baseball this season.
- Who
- The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays.
- What
- Viewership for the first two World Series games was down 6% compared with the first two games last year.
- When
- Through the first two games, played before the articles were published on Oct. 27, 2026.
- Where
- The games aired on Fox and other listed outlets, including Fox Deportes, Fox One, the Fox Sports app and, for Game 1, Univision.
- Why
- The sources cite Milwaukee’s Midwest fan base and recent success as factors that may help build interest. They do not state a specific cause for the 6% decline.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 3-2 in Game 1, which averaged 12.26 million viewers across the listed outlets.
Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 5-4, and the game averaged 10.85 million viewers.
Milwaukee won Game 3 by a score of 10-1; the game faced competition from the Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles “Monday Night Football” broadcast.
- Viewership change
- Down 6% through two games compared with the first two games of last year’s World Series
- Game 1
- 12.26 million viewers; Milwaukee won 3-2
- Game 2
- 10.85 million viewers; Milwaukee won 5-4
- Fox-only average
- 11.05 million viewers across the first two games
- 2023 World Series average
- 9.11 million viewers; the lowest on record
- Game 3
- Milwaukee won 10-1 on Monday
2 sources
What people are saying
I think they’ve probably surpassed everybody’s expectations. I think very few people, including me, would’ve guessed that we’d be down 6% through two games. We’re really satisfied
I do think there’s something helpful about having a traditional team from the Midwest in the series. And the fact that they were able to take down the two-time defending champs (the Dodgers) and do it in really convincing fashion, I think that helps build some interest for the World Series