MLB Division Series remains strong for Dodgers, less so elsewhere
· Yahoo Sports
The Los Angeles Dodgers are producing some of MLB’s strongest postseason audiences in years, but the league’s broader playoff viewership remains less impressive.
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Overall, the Division Series is averaging 3.27 million viewers through Monday, down 3% from the same point last year.
Game 1 of the Dodgers-Atlanta Braves Division Series averaged 5.37 million viewers on Fox last Saturday. According to Sports Media Watch, the game was the most-watched Division Series Game 1 since the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox met in the Division Series in 2018 (5.57 million on TBS).
Viewership was up 20% from Yankees-Blue Jays (4.0 million) in the same mid-afternoon Fox timeslot last year. That is despite the fact that Big Noon Saturday provided a slightly better lead-in in 2025 (Wisconsin-Michigan, 4.63 million) compared to 2026 (Michigan-Minnesota, 4.06 million).
Viewership was also up 15% compared to the first game of the Dodgers-Philadelphia Phillies Division Series last year (4.68 million) on TBS and truTV.
However, MLB viewership proved weaker outside of the Dodgers.
Game 1 of the Yankees-Tampa Bay Rays Division Series was the second-most-watched postseason game of the weekend, averaging 3.51 million viewers across TBS and truTV. Viewership was down 25% from the previously noted Dodgers-Phillies game in the same Saturday-evening window last year (4.68 million) and down 12% from Game 1 of the Yankees-Blue Jays Division Series in the mid-afternoon last year on Fox (4.0 million).
Even the Dodgers weren’t immune to decreases. Braves-Dodgers Game 2 averaged 3.33 million viewers Sunday on FS1, down 6% from Detroit Tigers-Seattle Mariners Game 2 in the same Sunday primetime window in 2025 (3.53 million), and down 38% from Dodgers-Phillies Game 2 on Monday evening last year.
The first two games of the San Diego Padres-Milwaukee Brewers series were also a mixed bag. Game 1 averaged 2.50 million viewers. That is down 18% from Tigers-Mariners in the same Saturday evening window last year (3.05 million), but was up 14% from the Brewers’ opening Division Series game in the early afternoon on TBS and truTV against the Cubs last year (2.2 million).
Game 2 was at 2.14 million. That is essentially flat with Yankees-Blue Jays in the same mid-afternoon Sunday window last year (2.18 million), though it is worth noting that game was 11-0 Blue Jays after the fourth inning. It is down 22% from Cubs-Brewers Game 2 (2.8 million), which was on a Monday night.
Also from the weekend, TNT Sports notes that Game 1 of Chicago White Sox-Cleveland Guardians averaged 2.1 million viewers across TBS and truTV Saturday afternoon. That is essentially flat with the previously mentioned Cubs-Brewers Game 1 last year in the same window (2.2 million). Neither the Guardians nor the White Sox played in a Division Series last year. Game 1 of Tigers-Mariners averaged 3.05 million in the evening on FS1 last year.
There did seem to be signs of better numbers to come for baseball in the week with less competition from football, both collegiate and professional.
On Monday, according to Sports Media Watch, Game 2 of Yankees-Rays averaged 4.3 million viewers on TBS and truTV. That is the most-watched ALDS Game 2 since Yankees-Red Sox in 2018. Game 2 of White Sox-Guardians also saw a viewership improvement from Game 1, averaging 2.9 million viewers.
There is reason to believe that there are even more strong MLB ratings to come. All of the MLB playoff games so far, including the Monday games, have faced competition from either college football or the NFL. That will change for viewership of the playoff games on Tuesday and Wednesday. In addition, postseason viewership generally grows as the series gets deeper.
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