World Series drew larger audience in Japan than NBA Finals did in U.S. this year

The 2024 World Series might have been short, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees still proved they can draw viewers. Especially in Japan.

This year’s Fall Classic averaged 12.1 million viewers in the home country of Dodgers stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, MLB announced Friday. That’s a larger audience than the 11.3 million viewers the 2024 NBA Finals averaged earlier this year, when the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks.

In the U.S., Game 5 of the World Series drew an average 18.6 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming services, the network announced, making it the most-watched Game 5 on Fox since the 2017 World Series. The Dodgers won the game 7-6 to clinch their eighth title.

In total, the World Series averaged more than 30 million viewers total between North American and Asia.

A team with Ohtani drawing massive numbers in Japan is the least-surprising development of the 2024 MLB playoffs. The Dodgers star is a national hero in the country, and this season saw him somehow reach another level of superstardom with an unprecedented 50-50 season and a successful first playoff run. He didn’t have the best performance in the actual World Series, but that was at least partially attributable to an injured shoulder.

Fox’s numbers in the U.S. are a 58% bump from Game 5 of last year’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, continuing a trend that began with Game 1. With a title in reach, Los Angeles posted the higher local metrics than New York, with a 21.1 rating and 55 share.

Viewership peaked between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, roughly around the time the Dodgers took the lead in the top of the eighth inning and had Blake Treinen defend that lead with a scoreless frame.

Overall, the World Series averaged 15.8 million viewers per game in the U.S., the league’s highest mark since 2017.

For that reason, the television networks probably wishing the Yankees had lasted a little longer. Fox alone was reportedly averaging $44.3 million in ad revenue in the first five games, with the chance for an even higher number in Games 6 and 7.

It also might be worth asking how matching stateside numbers from only seven years ago are a win for MLB, given that it’s hard to envision a better possible matchup from a ratings standpoint, but the league has been fighting an industry-wide decline in television viewers for years now.

The period since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has been particularly rough for the sports industry, so nearly any major league will take matching where it was seven years ago. Except for, of course, the NFL.