The clash between Los Angeles and New York City has proven to be a ratings jackpot for the World Series.

FOX Sports reported that Game 1 viewership hit its highest mark since 2017 when the Houston Astros defeated the Dodgers 4-2 in the championship series. FOX noted that Game 1 of the World Series attracted an average of 15.2 million baseball fans between its regular channel, streaming services, and Spanish broadcast alternatives. The rating was a reported 67 percent increase from last year’s Cinderella story, in which the Texas Rangers won the trophy in a 4-2 series over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

FOX’s coverage of Game 1 achieved a reported peak with 17.8 million viewers tuning in between 11:30 p.m. ET and the final moments of the extra-innings, marking an explosive end to an already highly anticipated game. Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning, clinching a 6-3 win for Los Angeles over New York, sealed the Dodgers one-game lead in the series and reflected the ratings spike.

Last year’s World Series opener between the Diamondbacks and Rangers also delivered late-inning drama, extending into extra innings and culminating with Adolis Garcia’s 373-foot walk-off home run for a 6-5 Rangers victory. Despite the similar late-game heroics, the game, with 42,472 in attendance, struggled to captivate a broad TV audience, averaging just 9.35 million viewers – marking the lowest viewership for a Game 1 in FOX’s history.

The history for the most-watched Game 1 of a World Series belongs to NBC’s broadcast of the 1980 opener between the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals, which attracted a record 33.5 million viewers. The only World Series to surpass it in average viewership across all games was the 1978 classic showdown between the Yankees and Dodgers, which drew 32.8 million viewers per game, still the biggest series average in history.

The Yankees and Dodgers undeniably have draw power over World Series viewership. Together, the two franchises are responsible for four of the top five highest-rated series averages in history, a statistic that dates back to 1968.

Will Smith advances bases

Los Angeles Dodgers won Game 1 of the World Series ( 

Image:

Getty)

New York has historically exerted a massive gravitational pull on baseball audiences. None of the five least-viewed World Series in history involved the Bronx Bombers, with the Dodgers being featured on the list once in 2020 when they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays.

Historically, baseball viewership tends to surge when the Yankees perform well, reflecting their deep-rooted popularity and legacy dating back to the “Muderer’s Row” days of the 1920s. Yet, despite their storied history, the Yankees haven’t claimed a World Series title since 2009.

That year, they beat the Phillies in six games, with Hideki Matsui becoming the World Series MVP. He hit three crucial home runs during the series, including a pivotal blast in Game 6 that helped seal the championship.