The Big Lead

NLCS ratings continue MLB's postseason windfall

By J.P. Hoornstra

Oct 20, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts (50) is out at home against New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) in the eighth inning during game six of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium.
Oct 20, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts (50) is out at home against New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) in the eighth inning during game six of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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The final ratings for the National League Championship Series are in. Unlike the New York Mets, they did not disappoint.

The six-game series between the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers averaged 5,627,000 viewers on Fox and FS1, the highest since the 2019 NLCS between the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals.

The NLCS ratings represent a 20 percent increase compared to 2023 (Phillies-Diamondbacks) and a 22 percent increase compared to 2022 (Phillies-Padres). Overall, Fox's postseason ratings are up 33 percent compared to 2023.

It's been a banner postseason for MLB, with big-market teams, star players and an assortment of tense games and series keeping fans engaged.

TBS held the rights to the ALCS and the ALDS between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals. Those series combined to deliver a 9 percent increase in viewership compared to the same series in 2023.

Postseason viewership overall was already up 18 percent compared to 2023 before the LCS round began. Now that the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers have clinched the first World Series between the country's two largest media markets since 1981, expect MLB's ratings surge to continue.

The first Dodgers-Yankees World Series since 1981 marks a historic matchup in the context of baseball history — and a potential ratings windfall. While it's drawn ire from fans who cannot bring themselves to root for a big-market, big-budget team, at least among Fox and MLB's ratings-watchers in Manhattan, the series figures to be an economic success.

Play-by-play broadcaster Joe Davis and analyst John Smoltz, who called the NLCS, will reprise their roles for the Fall Classic along with dugout reporters Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci.

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