World Series TV ratings surpass Monday Night Football

The World Series beat “Monday Night Football” in the battle for television viewers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the Fall Classic averaged 13.64 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming according to early numbers by Nielsen. That beat the 13.4 million that tuned in for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-18 win over the New York Giants on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN2 and streaming.

The audience for Yankees-Dodgers peaked at 14.25 million from 9-9:15 p.m. It was the most-watched Game 3 since 2018, when the Dodgers’ 18-inning victory over the Red Sox average 13.3 million.

It is Fox’s most-viewed prime time telecast on a Monday since Game 5 of the 2013 Series between Boston and St. Louis (14.45 million).

It was the ninth time since 1986 that a World Series game was played on a Monday night, but only the fourth that it went head-to-head against “Monday Night Football” on network television.

Last year marked the first time the NFL beat the Fall Classic on Monday night. The Texas Rangers’ 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 last year is the least-viewed World Series game on record, averaging 8.13 million viewers.

Last year's entire Series also ranks as the least viewed ever, with an average of 9.08 million over five games.

These "streaming era" numbers compare to previous World Series viewership such as Game 7 in 1991, as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves; the game had a viewership of 50.3 million. Game 7 in 2016 between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians had an average viewership of 40 million—the most-watched World Series game in 25 years dating back to 1991 -- and peaked at 49.9 million viewers. Fox estimated that more than 75 million people watched all or part of that game.



(AP Photo Godofredo A. Vasquez)