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Oct 29, 2024

The World Series is Crushing With Younger Viewers

Major League Baseball is enjoying a ratings resurgence this postseason and a dreamy New York Yankees-Los Angeles Dodgers matchup is providing the largest numbers yet. Large American audiences have

Major League Baseball is enjoying a ratings resurgence this postseason and a dreamy New York Yankees-Los Angeles Dodgers matchup is providing the largest numbers yet.

Large American audiences have been outdone by the numbers coming in from Japan, where 14.4 million people watched Game 1 of the Fall Classic, a record quickly surpassed by Game 2 garnering 15.9 million viewers. The 2024 World Series is averaging 29.7 million viewers combined in the United States and Japan.

The 2024 World Series is averaging nearly 30 million viewers combined in the U.S. and Japan, where the country is drawing record viewership. pic.twitter.com/FMgUrZLbMb

The presence of Shohei Ohtani is obviously largely responsible for the interest, which is even more impressive considering that Games 1 and 2 aired at 9 a.m. local time in Japan. As the series shifts to New York for Games 3-5, the viewership may dip a bit as the games will be taking place during the normal weekday working hours. If it lasts until Game 6 or Game 7 to send the series to the weekend and back to Los Angeles, it's reasonable to expect yet another record.

Something Major League Baseball highlighted that's also of interest is how well they are doing with younger viewers.

MLB, meanwhile, continues to make significant strides with younger audiences domestically. While the World Series viewership average thus far is up by 63% compared to last year’s, that increase pales compared to the 93% bump in viewers ages 18 to 34. That spike is the largest seen thus far for the event in any age demographic. The league’s social media platforms additionally have registered more than 345 million views through Game 2, a figure up by 229% from the comparable games to start the 2023 World Series.

Considering how hard baseball has been trying to capture more youthful eyeballs, this has to be seen as one of the biggest wins for the sport in a long time. It's a special series with special players so it's tough to say just how sustainable this explosion or if it's a one-time perfect storm.

Still, plenty of reasons for stockholders to be happy about. Plus the fans have been treated to two great games with the promise of five more.

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Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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