The Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs season in the United States is recording its highest viewership since 2017, according to data collected up to the League Championship Series (LCS).
The average audience is 4.48 million viewers, which represents a 13% increase compared to the previous year, according to reports from MLB and Nielsen.
Much of this growth is attributed to the first two rounds of the postseason. The American League Championship Series (ALCS) broadcast on Fox, Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes, and streaming platforms averaged 4.99 million viewers across the seven games.
This number is similar to that of last year’s ALCS on TNT Sports, where the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians in five games.
The National League Championship Series (NLCS) recorded an average of 4.7 million viewers, representing a 17% decrease compared to last year’s six-game series between the New York Mets and the Dodgers.
The game 7, where the Toronto Blue Jays achieved a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners, drew an average of 9.03 million viewers, becoming the most-watched ALCS game in eight years. The audience peaked at 12.35 million in the ninth inning.
MLB has also experienced significant growth in Canada and Japan.
Toronto’s victory, which took them to the World Series for the first time since 1993, averaged 6 million viewers in Canada and was the most-watched Blue Jays game on Sportsnet in that country.
