World Series Pulls Best Game 1 Audience In 7 Years As Dodgers Take The Win

The Dodgers-Yankees World Series matchup is already proving it’ll be a record breaker for Fox.

The Los Angeles Dodgers bested the New York Yankees in Game 1 to an audience of 15.2M viewers on Friday night, giving the network a significant boost over its average primetime audience. It was up 62% versus the 2023 World Series Game 1, when 9.4M viewers watched the Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Texas Rangers.

In fact, it was the most-watched World Series Game 1 since 2017, when the Dodgers played the Houston Astros with 15.3M tuned in. That Series would end up averaging nearly 19M viewers.

This is a positive sign for the rest of the Series, which will likely be the most-watched in several years. The World Series has been on a bit of a decline, especially since 2020, experiencing the lowest audiences ever.

But, as Deadline previously reported, the once-common matchup between the L.A. and New York teams has become a rarity that will surely pull in a large audience, especially thanks to some star power on both teams that will help attract even more casual sports viewers.

Game 2 takes place Saturday night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. From there, both teams will travel to the Bronx, where they’ll play the next three games at Yankee Stadium.