Game seven of the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays capped off another successful year for Major League Baseball (MLB) and continued its recent resurgence.
Rule changes designed to accelerate the pace of play, coupled with the emergence of a new wave of star players and a more influential international dimension have increased broadcast viewership, deepened fan engagement, and driven commercial growth.
MLB’s upward trajectory could be thwarted by a possible lockout in 2027, should owners and players fail to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) next year, while uncertainty in the local media rights space persists
But, until then, all underlying metrics suggest a competition in good health.
The Dodgers’ thrilling seven-game Fall Classic series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays captured huge attention around the world (Image credit: Getty Images)
Regular season viewership continues to climb as ESPN heads for exit
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Most of MLB’s broadcast partners reported a double-digit percentage increase in viewership across the 2025 regular season.
Fox recorded its most watched season since 2022, with average viewership up nine per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 2.04 million.
ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball averaged 1.8 million viewers, a 21 per cent increase, its best season in 12 years. Despite strong figures, the Disney-owned sports network has relinquished the rights to its package, although it is expected to remain an MLB partner in some capacity. Its existing package is set to be split between NBC and Netflix from next season.
Elsewhere, Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) TBS averaged 462,000 viewers for its non-exclusive games, the most for 14 years, and the league’s in-house MLB Network cable channel had its best year since 2018 with an average of 261,000 viewers for its out-of-market ‘Showcase’ broadcast.
The MLB.TV direct-to-consumer (DTC) service, which airs out-of-market games, also set another record this season with 19.39 billion minutes watched overall, an 34 per cent rise over last year.
Local broadcasts were also up two per cent. RSN operator FanDuel Sports Network, which has the in-marker rights to nine franchises, averaged 1.5 million daily viewers across its linear and digital platforms, an 18 per cent increase from 2024.
Outside of the US, Canadian broadcaster Sportsnet averaged 906,800 viewers for Toronto Blue Jays games, up 51 per cent on last year. In Japan, the league continues to grow its popularity, with NHK averaging 2.65 million viewers for games, a 20 per cent rise on the previous campaign.
Memorable World Series is ratings hit in US and Canada
This momentum carried on into the postseason, with each round delivering a double-digit increase on last year’s equivalent stage.
The Wild Card round averaged 4.63 million viewers, a 64 per cent increase, with the Divisional Series averaging 4.17 million – the most for 14 years.
The American League Championship Series (ALCS) between the Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners averaged a combined 9.39 million viewers in the US and Canada, with Game seven achieving 15.03 million across both countries.
Fox’s coverage of the World Series in the US averaged 15.71 million viewers, a two per cent increase from last year’s edition between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees, with game seven achieving 27.33 million across its linear and digital channels.
In Canada, game seven was the most-watched broadcast ever on Sportsnet, averaging 10.9 million viewers. The final game of the series was also the most-watched broadcast ever in Canada except for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The World Series as a whole averaged 8.1 million Canadian viewers, with all seven games becoming the Blue Jays’ most watched fixtures ever.
The involvement of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto also made sure the Fall Classic was a major hit in Japan, with NHK averaging 13.1 million viewers for game six, the highest audience ever for a World Series game ever in the country. This was despite the significant time difference, with games starting early in the morning for Japanese fans.
When combining viewership in the US, Canada and Japan, the seven-game World Series averaged 34 million viewers, the largest audience for the Fall Classic since 1992. MLB also noted the 2025 World Series generated the largest international audience in the history of the Fall Classic.
Dodgers achieve rare milestone as attendance growth streak continues
Regular season attendance rose for the third consecutive year, a feat not achieved for two decades, with 71.4 million fans passing through the turnstiles.
The Dodgers became the first franchise to attract more than four million fans to their home games since the New York Mets and the Yankees did so in 2008, the same year both teams opened new home ballparks in the Big Apple.
The 2025 World Series champions are just the tenth team in MLB history to achieve the milestone, averaging 49,536 at Dodger Stadium, the most of any team. The Dodgers also drew the biggest crowds on the road, with their away games averaging a league-high 35,702 fans.
Five teams drew more than three million fans to regular season fixtures, including the Mets, who had their best attendance since 2008 and the Philadelphia Phillies, their most since 2012.
MLB has suggested its rule changes have been a contributory factor. The average game length this season was two hours and 38 minutes, which marks the third straight campaign that games tended to finish under two hours and 40 minutes. Meanwhile, the average age of ticket buyers is now 43, down from 46 in 2023, with secondary ticket buyers even younger at 39.
Sponsorship revenue breaks the US$2bn barrier
Brands are responding to this resurgence in interest, with MLB just the second North American sports league to exceed US$2 billion in team sponsorship revenue after the National Football League (NFL), according to SponsorUnited,
The Dodgers are projected to be the first North American professional sports team to surpass US$200 million thanks to an increase of US$30 million during 2025 and their ability to secure partnerships worth five times the league average.
Four other teams exceeded US$100 million – the Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs- and five franchises struck new jersey patch partnerships this year, leaving just two without shirt sponsorship.
The finance sector led the way in spending, increasing its outlay by nine per cent YoY, with the biggest increase witnessed in the retail sector, which increased expenditure by 32 per cent.
As for player endorsements, Seattle Mariners catcher Caleb Raleigh led all players with 17 individual deals to his name.
League sees record year for digital engagement
The league accumulated a record 17.8 billion views on its social media accounts, a 20 per cent increase on last year, and sales of the official MLB: The Show 25 video game increased by 20 per cent in the first half of the year.
Ohtani’s Dodgers jersey was the highest selling shirt for a third straight year, ahead of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, and Dodgers teammates Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.
Fanatics, which runs MLB’s retail operations, earned US$40 million in revenue from fan gear and trading card sales at the season-opening Tokyo Series – the company’s biggest-selling event ever across physical and online channels in Japan and the US.
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