kdhnews
LOS ANGELES — The World Series is here, and it promises to be a thrilling matchup: the National League's best, the Milwaukee Brewers, against the American League's best, the Tampa Bay Rays.
The players are ready to shine on baseball's biggest stage. Yet, a curious national preoccupation has emerged: not how stars like Jacob Misiorowski or Junior Caminero will perform, but how many viewers will tune in.
Should fans care? Not really. Have you ever considered checking the ratings before deciding to watch a World Series game? Major League Baseball certainly does, as owners rely on billions from television rights, and higher viewership boosts those rights' value.
With collective bargaining tensions looming, ratings have become a compelling subplot. This World Series features what owners claim they want: fewer appearances by teams like the Dodgers and Yankees, and more from smaller markets that rarely make deep playoff runs—if they even qualify.
Neither the Brewers nor the Rays have won a World Series. Yet the 2024 Dodgers-Yankees Fall Classic drew nearly double the ratings of the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks-Texas Rangers series, and this year's numbers are expected to be closer to 2023's.
So, in a sport that already earns most of its broadcast revenue from national rather than local deals, and with regional sports networks collapsing, are owners risking lower World Series revenue? Fox currently holds the World Series rights as part of a seven-year, $5.1 billion agreement that runs through 2028.
Ed Desser, a Santa Monica-based consultant who launched NBA TV and helped negotiate the Dodgers' record SportsNet LA deal, said the value of a World Series featuring teams like the Dodgers and Yankees extends beyond their large-market audiences. "It's commonplace for people to hate the Dodgers, hate the Yankees—and, to some extent, that's good for business, because it's another rooting interest. Anything that gets people to focus their attention is good," Desser said. "It's easy to hate a team that's in a glamorous place and spends more than almost anybody. I'm not sure that anybody has an ax to grind against the Rays or the Brewers. Sports is about passion."
That said, neither Desser nor Bob Thompson, former president of Fox Sports Networks, believes MLB is setting itself up for a major revenue drop from the Fall Classic. For Fox—and any other bidders that might emerge in 2028—ratings would matter, but not as much as one might think.
"Does expected audience matter? Of course," Desser said. "They're in the media business, and the way you monetize is by selling subscriptions to your channel and selling advertising. But, typically, you're taking a much longer viewpoint. You're making a deal that might be five, eight, 12 years. When you do that, you have an expectation that some teams get better, some teams get worse, sometimes you get a large market, sometimes you get a small market. It kind of evens out."
This is the fifth season of the current Fox contract. The 10 World Series berths have been spread among nine teams, with the Dodgers appearing twice. To a broadcast outlet, Thompson said, financial success in the World Series is not just about ratings.
"It's about how good the matchup is and how long the matchup goes. The bulk of the advertising is sold up front (before we know the teams)," Thompson said. "Ratings for the series aren't going to be a huge deal, unless you're selling time in, say, Game 6 and Game 7, where you can really be jacking your rates."
Last year's Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series extended to seven games, attracting viewers amid a dramatic finish and ultimately getting a higher rating than the 2024 Dodgers-Yankees series, even though Canadian viewers weren't included in that Nielsen count. The Dodgers-Yankees series lasted five games, and the Dodgers beat up on the Yankees when the Yankees weren't beating themselves.
Even if the World Series itself might be worth less with more lower-profile teams competing, Thompson said MLB could include it as part of a larger package, or dangle it as an incentive for streaming outlets or other new bidders. He also noted that the latest MLB collective bargaining proposal calls for fewer regular-season games and more postseason games.
"Playoffs are going to get you a premium over regular-season games," Thompson said. And, to the extent that postseason ratings might be in decline, ratings for everything—sporting events, awards shows, news shows, dramas, comedies, you name it—are in decline. Only the NFL is immune to lower ratings.
"Big events matter more than they used to, even with smaller audiences," Desser said. "The World Series is still a big event, and there is a premium for that."
The three most-watched shows on broadcast television in the week of Oct. 5-11, according to Nielsen: Sunday Night Football (Atlanta Falcons vs. Baltimore Ravens) with 17 million viewers; SEC Football (Alabama vs. Georgia) with 12 million viewers; NLCS Game 1 (Dodgers vs. Brewers) with 11 million viewers. The top entertainment show that week: Tracker (CBS), with 7.4 million viewers.
The owners will make their money on the World Series, one way or another. "Even at a lower expectation for audience, there is still going to be that value," Desser said. "It's one of the biggest things happening in October."
Key Analysis
The World Series between the Brewers and Rays highlights a tension between competitive balance and television revenue. While smaller-market teams may attract fewer viewers, experts argue that the league's long-term contracts and the premium nature of live sports mitigate financial risks. As MLB navigates collective bargaining, the ratings debate underscores broader questions about how the sport values market size versus competitive fairness.
Originally reported by kdhnews.