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A perfect storm of sports-related factors combined to bring viewership of Game 3 of the World Series to a historic low, blunting what has otherwise been a solid audience for the event.
The Brewers are World Series champions after a dominant series that was nearly a sweep of the Rays. But industry sources told Front Office Sports that Monday’s Game 3 between Milwaukee and Tampa averaged just 8.33 million viewers on Fox Sports and Fox Deportes. That will stand as the fourth-lowest audience for a World Series game ever, beating only Game 3 of the pandemic-affected 2020 World Series between the Dodgers and Rays, and Games 2 and 3 of the 2023 matchup between the Rangers and Diamondbacks.
Each of those prior World Series games happened before the arrival of several meaningful Nielsen methodology changes, including an expansion of out-of-home measurement, the new Big Data + Panel process, and this year’s improved counting of co-viewing.
As a result, this year’s Game 3 sets a new low in the current audience measurement framework.
Notably, Fox Sports did not release the World Series Game 3 viewership figure Wednesday as had been expected. Instead, the network will likely issue a combined report late Thursday that includes the Game 4 audience and downplays the weaker Game 3 number.
The dramatic 12-inning Game 4 on Tuesday won by the Rays to avoid a sweep by the Brewers drew a preliminary audience of about 13.5 million viewers.
‘Sports Equinox’ Hurt MLB—But Not NFL
Game 3 of the World Series was part of the 33rd ever “sports equinox,” a day that had games in all four major U.S. men’s sports leagues—as well as a WNBA Finals game.
Amid all that, the NFL cut through and extended its dominance as the most popular programming in all of U.S. television. The Monday Night Football game between the Eagles and Cowboys on ESPN and several related Disney outlets averaged 18.8 million viewers, more than doubling the baseball audience. That NFL figure represents the best Week 7 audience in ESPN’s MNF era that began in 2006, and extends a blistering viewership pace for the primetime showcase. Through the first seven weeks, the average MNF audience of 19 million is up 26% compared to last year.
Also driving the MLB viewership down was a Brewers rout in Game 3 that saw the club race out to a ten-run lead in the fifth inning en route to a 10–1 victory. Game 3 was additionally the beginning of an extensive Milwaukee fan takeover in Tampa.
Given the NFL’s strength, regardless of the competing programming, this type of viewership spread between the two sports is rather common. A high-profile 2024 World Series matchup between the Yankees and Dodgers, however, led to a rare win for MLB in the head-to-head audience battle.
Games 1 and 2 of this year’s World Series came close to comparable Fall Classic games involving the Dodgers, defying lower expectations heading into the event.
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