(Bloomberg) -- Fox Sports is counting on a big ratings jump from Major League Baseball’s World Series — the first showdown between the game’s biggest franchises since 1981.
The Los Angeles Dodgers take the field Friday at Dodger Stadium in the best-of-seven series against the New York Yankees. The two organizations have faced off in the MLB championship 11 times, more than any other teams, with the Yankees winning eight times.
“The idea of a Yankees-Dodgers World Series is pretty powerful,” said Mike Mulvihill, president of insight and analytics for broadcaster Fox Corp.’s sports division.
Fox is gearing up to take advantage of excitement, with plans to capture the emotions and reactions of players and fans during coverage, according to Judy Boyd, senior vice president of production. The broadcaster has been using drones for sweeping shots of the field during its postseason coverage, as well as cameras worn by umpires to give closeups of pitches. Boyd said there are plans to highlight celebrity attendees as well.
Fox said it has sold out its ad positions for the first two games. Additional inventory can open up if games go longer than expected, because of pitching changes or extra innings. The network has been seeking $450,000 to $500,000 for 30-second spots in the first five games.
Pregame and postgame coverage will include former Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, joined by former Red Sox first baseman David Ortiz, all of whom have won a World Series. Joe Davis, who announces Dodgers games in their home market, will be providing the play-by-play, accompanied by pitching great John Smoltz.
Last year’s series, between the victorious Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks, averaged about 9 million viewers per game, Mulvihill said. Given the rich history of this year’s teams, their stars and home cities — the two largest media markets in the US — the network is predicting more.
“We would look for a big improvement over that,” Mulvihill said. It would be “a pleasant surprise” if this year’s championship outdrew the 2016 World Series, when the Chicago Cubs won after a more than 100-year drought and attracted an average audience of 22.8 million viewers per game.
Fox has scheduled the series to avoid conflicts with its biggest sports commitment: Sunday NFL coverage. The series begins with two games in Los Angeles, moves to New York for games on Oct. 28 to Oct. 30, and then returns to Los Angeles if needed for the final two games on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.
Movie studios, drug companies and technology companies will be among the sponsors, Variety reported, joining regulars like Capital One and Mastercard. The presidential campaigns are also expected to advertise.
The Dodgers and Yankees last faced off in a championship 43 years ago, when the late pitching great Fernando Valenzuela kicked off four straight victories for the Dodgers by winning Game 3. The Yankees haven’t reached a World Series in 15 years, while the Dodgers have appeared three times since 2017, winning once.
“These two teams have probably contributed more to baseball history than any others in terms of legendary players and championships,” Mulvihill said.
As much as the history, the two teams’ star players and league-leading records this season should help attract more casual baseball fans. The Yankees’ Aaron Judge led the majors with 58 home runs. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani was second with 54 and also stole 59 bases. LA led the majors in attendance. NY was No. 2.
Ohtani will also pull viewers from his home country of Japan. He’s a global sensation who signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers last year, the biggest contract in the history of team sports. More than 10% of Japan’s population tuned in to a Dodgers-San Diego Padres playoff game when both teams fielded Japanese starting pitchers.
As successful as baseball has been with fans with year, it’s no NFL. This year’s Super Bowl drew an audience of 123 million viewers, while the playoffs averaged more than 38 million per game. The typical regular season game attracts 9.2 million.
But Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., which shared the MLB playoffs, have already seen ratings wins. The League Championship Series averaged 4.96 million viewers, a 13% increase over last year, according to Nielsen ratings.
Boyd said the teams’ histories and superstars have keyed up a great story for television.
“It makes our job easy,” she said. “We just can’t mess it up.”
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