The Milwaukee Brewers secured their first World Series championship this week, ending a 57-year wait, but preliminary television figures showed a smaller audience than for baseball’s previous two title series. Milwaukee defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday to complete a five-game victory. The Brewers’ only previous World Series appearance came 44 years earlier, when they lost to the St Louis Cardinals in seven games in 1982.
The championship series, played from October 23 to 28, matched National League champions Milwaukee against American League champions Tampa Bay. With Nielsen’s final ratings report still pending, estimates put the average audience on Fox at 11.82 million. Milwaukee’s 10-1 victory in Game 3 drew the smallest audience, at 8.33 million, while the title-clinching fifth game attracted the largest, at 14.22 million.
Those estimates fall below the averages of 15.49 million viewers in 2025 and 15.1 million in 2024, when the Los Angeles Dodgers won consecutive championships. The teams’ spending and market profiles could help explain the difference. Milwaukee’s $146 million payroll ranks 19th in MLB, while Tampa Bay’s $95 million ranks 28th. Their matchup was the first World Series between two of baseball’s smallest spenders in 35 years.
Milwaukee is MLB’s smallest market team and generates the least local commercial and television revenue, while Tampa Bay sits in the middle of the league’s market rankings. The nine-time champion Dodgers occupy the top market category, reflecting their large media and population footprint. Their expensive roster includes Shohei Ohtani, former MVP Mookie Betts and 10-time All-Star Freddie Freeman.
Other championship events attracted substantially larger US audiences. The 2026 NBA Finals averaged 20.58 million viewers as the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 to end a 53-year title drought. The deciding game averaged 24.54 million and peaked at 33 million, making it the most-watched fifth game of an NBA Finals since 1998. Spain’s 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina in the FIFA World Cup final averaged a combined 62.8 million on Fox and Telemundo, a US record for a football match.
American football remained the biggest television draw. Nielsen estimated that 125.6 million viewers watched the Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX. NBC’s broadcast ranked second in Super Bowl history, behind the 127.7 million audience in 2025. Ice hockey attracted fewer viewers than baseball: the 2026 Stanley Cup averaged 5.2 million as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2.
Baseball’s international expansion also encountered a setback when MLB cancelled two London games planned for June 13 and 14 between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. West Ham United’s final home match on May 24 left little time to convert London Stadium for baseball, a process taking up to three weeks. Later June dates were unavailable because Fox’s broadcast schedule conflicted with the World Cup.
MLB has staged games overseas in countries including Japan and Australia, following games in Mexico in 2000. It is also developing grassroots initiatives in cricket-loving India and last week held MLBx, a fast-paced three-on-three competition featuring baseball and softball stars.
Other US leagues continue to build their overseas presence. The NFL stages regular-season games in cities including London, Munich, Madrid, Sao Paulo and Mexico City. Its first Australian game in Melbourne last month drew 100,021 spectators, the seventh-largest regular-season crowd in league history. The NBA also takes regular-season and preseason games to international destinations including Paris, Abu Dhabi and Mexico City.
