The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers renewed their historic rivalry at Dodger Stadium this past weekend in a highly anticipated rematch of the 2024 World Series.
The three-game set was made available to a national audience on Apple TV+, Fox and ESPN, with viewership records being set for the latter two networks.
The Dodgers’ 18-2 blowout win over the Yankees on Saturday drew 2.2 million viewers, which was up 16% from Fox’s MLB regular-season average despite heavy competition elsewhere. That game ended with Kiké Hernández once again entertaining as he pitched the ninth inning while wearing a protective helmet.
The series finale on “Sunday Night Baseball” reached 2.7 million average viewers, which was ESPN’s highest mark over the last eight years. That was up 81% from “Sunday Night Baseball’s” season average in 2024.
With more than two months of the 2025 season now complete, Fox and ESPN have registered viewership gains of double-digit percentages for MLB games.
MLB on FOX is up 10% from last year with average viewership of 1.841 million viewers per game. ESPN’s MLB coverage has increased 22% from last year, with average viewership of 1.740 million viewers per game.
Both networks seemingly benefited from the Dodgers’ and Yankees’ popularity, along with Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge arguably being the two biggest stars that baseball has to offer.
Judge and Ohtani made MLB history in the series opener by becoming the first reigning MVPs to hit a home run in the first inning of the same game. Ohtani and Judge then were named Player of the Month for their respective leagues.
Dodgers attendance reaches new 2025 high
Despite falling short of a sweep, the Dodgers’ series finale with the Yankees drew a single-game high of 54,031 fans at Dodger Stadium this season.
Attendance for the series opener was 53,276, and there was a slight drop on Saturday to 51,746. Overall, total Dodgers attendance for the Yankees series was 159,053.
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