MLB's 2025 ratings resurgence

Data: Axios research, Nielsen; Note: Viewership numbers for Game 7 of the 2025 World Series are preliminary; Chart: Axios VisualsAt least 25 million people tuned into the final game of the World Series on Fox Saturday night, boosting the overall ratings across the seven-game series to more than 14 million viewers.Why it matters: It was the highest-rated World Series finale since 2017 — an important milestone for the MLB as it continues to finalize its lucrative new set of media rights deals through 2028.The big picture: This year's World Series ratings shine especially when compared to the NBA Finals on ABC.The NBA Finals, despite a strong showing for Game 7, averaged just 10.3 million viewers this year.Still, the NBA was able to strike a very lucrative media rights package last year worth $77 billion over 11 years.Zoom in: Saturday night's nail-biter between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers is likely to draw more viewers when final Nielsen ratings are released on Tuesday.It's unlikely the final figure will surpass the 28.24 million people who tuned into game seven of the 2017 World Series, but it could be close.The first two games of the World Series each averaged more than 30 million viewers across Canada, the U.S. and Japan, making the largest combined audience from those countries since 2016.A Canadian team participating in the World Series for the first time in more than three decades helped drive record viewership in Canada. A roster of superstar Japanese players on the Dodgers also helped drive record viewership in Japan.Zoom out: The World Series caps a strong season of ratings for the MLB, which has seen viewership surge in response to rule changes that make the game faster and more engaging to follow.The 2025 regular season saw double-digit viewership increases across all of the networks that air its national games, including ESPN, Fox Sports, TNT Sports and MLB Network.MLB had its most-viewed postseason in the U.S. this year since 2017. The 2025 Wild Card — the first round of the MLB postseason — set viewership records this year.State of play: MLB is currently finalizing a new set of multi-year distribution deals that will almost certainly be bolstered by strong viewership.The company is reportedly eyeing a package that would see ESPN licensing the league's digital out-of-market games, NBC acquiring all of the league's Sunday night games and Wild Card playoff games and Netflix getting the rights to air MLB's Home Run Derby.Between the lines: ESPN and MLB in February "mutually agreed" to end their TV deal — a 35-year partnership — after this season.MLB called ESPN's demand to reduce rights fees "simply unacceptable" while ESPN reportedly believed it was overpaying the league by more than $300 million.

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