World Series Game 1 draws highest TV viewership in five years

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers' dramatic 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night – which ended with Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning – averaged 15.2 Millions of viewers on Fox. Fox Deportes, Univision and streaming make it the most-watched Fall Classic game in five years.

It was only the fourth time in 36 World Series games since 2018 that viewership broke the 15 million mark. The last game before Friday was the seventh and deciding game of the 2019 series, when Washington's 6-2 victory over Houston earned an average of 23 million for its first championship.

Watch the live broadcast of Game 2

According to Nielsen, viewership peaked at 17.8 million from the 10th inning to the end of the game.

That was a 62% increase from the first game last year between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rangers' 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks in 11 innings averaged 9.35 million and was the least-watched Game 1 ever.

Friday's game was the most-watched Game 1 since Los Angeles' 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros in 2017, averaging 15.33 million viewers. It was also the most-watched Friday telecast on Fox since Game 3 in 2017 (15.68 million).

The game had a 19.1 rating and a 58 share in Los Angeles and a 13.2 rating and a 37 share in New York.

The audience rating is the percentage of television households tuned in. The share refers to the percentage of viewers who are currently watching.