After two games, this year’s small-market World Series is avoiding MLB’s worst fears from a viewership standpoint, but an uncompetitive Game 3 could send interest spiraling.
Saturday’s World Series Game 2 between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers drew an average of 10.85 million viewers across Fox and Fox Deportes, the network announced Tuesday. Fox alone drew 10.66 million viewers, down 6% from last year’s Game 2 audience (11.4 million viewers).
No Time Like October: FOX Sports opens #WorldSeries with strong start highlighted by 12,259,000 viewers for Game 1 and 10,854,000 for Game 2.
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) October 27, 2026
While that figure lags behind the two Los Angeles Dodgers-fueled World Series in 2024 and 2025, Game 2 did beat out the comparable games of the lowly 2023 Fall Classic (8.15 million viewers for Rangers-Diamondbacks), as well as Braves-Astros in 2021 (10.28 million viewers) and the pandemic-impacted Dodgers-Rays series in 2020 (9.18 million viewers).
Fox also released the official viewership number for Game 1: 12.26 million viewers (11.51 million viewers on Fox), essentially in line with the preliminary estimates. (More information on Game 1 viewership can be found here.)
Barring a severe drop-off in viewership for Game 3 and beyond, MLB and Fox should avoid the disaster of competing with the 2023 World Series as the least-watched on record, as some feared prior to the start of the series. The Rangers’ 4-1 gentleman’s sweep of the Diamondbacks in 2023 averaged just 9.08 million viewers and did not earn a single eight-figure audience until the Rangers’ Game 5 clincher.
That said, Game 3 could be the least-watched World Series game since the 2023 series. The Brewers, up 2-0, blew out the Rays 10-1 in Tampa, taking a commanding 3-0 lead into Game 4. Games 1 and 2 were close and competitive, while Game 3 had no such drama. Additionally, Game 3 competed head-to-head with Monday Night Football on ABC and ESPN, which figures to cut into the baseball audience. The first two games faced no NFL competition.
Tuesday’s Game 4 should rebound slightly from what figures to be a weak Game 3 audience. No football competition, and viewership usually trends up for potential series-clinching games. MLB and Fox would, of course, like to avoid a sweep. But even if the Brewers win Game 4, the first two games’ audiences should be enough for the league and network to avoid the distinction of being the least-watched World Series on record. Beating the average audiences from 2021 (11.74 million), 2022 (11.76 million), 2024 (15.10 million), and 2025 (15.49 million) all seem unlikely, however, unless the Rays stage a major comeback.
The figure to beat now might be the 2020 series, which averaged 9.79 million viewers over six games.
As with any historical viewership comparisons, it’s important to note that Nielsen has changed its methodology numerous times in recent years. Most pertinent to live sports viewing is the expansion of out-of-home viewing measurements introduced in Jan. 2025, and the introduction of the Big Data sample into the top-line number in Sept. 2025. Both changes have generally increased viewership figures for live sports.
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