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The 2026 World Baseball Classic was once again a win for the sport of baseball, and ultimately a loss for Team USA. That bore out in the ratings.
The championship game of this year’s tournament, in which Venezuela defeated the U.S., 3-2, drew an average of 10.78 million viewers on Tuesday, Fox Sports announced. The telecast viewership reportedly peaked with 12.15 million at the game’s end in the 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET window.
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That’s a 128% increase over the American numbers of the previous World Baseball Classic final, Japan’s win over Team USA in 2023. That game’s 4.48 million average viewers was itself seen as a record-shattering number, and this year it was more than doubled.
To be clear, these are just the U.S. numbers. The WBC often also sees strong numbers in Latin America.
Venezuela won the 2026 World Baseball Classic. So did Fox Sports. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Al Bello via Getty Images
In fact, 10.78 million viewers puts this year’s WBC final above several past World Series games in 2020, 2021 and 2023, seasons which represent the ratings nadir of the Fall Classic. The numbers of the 2024 and 2025 World Series — held between the Los Angeles Dodgers and two big-market East Coast teams — have been much stronger, with 2025’s Game 7 landing 26.88 million average viewers.
Still, it’s not far off to say the WBC is now producing World Series-level ratings for MLB and its broadcast partner, at a time of year when the league usually has only little-watched spring training games.
Per Fox, the tournament overall drew an average of 1.29 million viewers across Fox, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, a 156% increase from 2023’s 506,000. Attendance also set records with 1,355,266 total attendees and 28,835 per game.
It’s an event the undeniably has momentum, though changes could also be coming down the line.
Continue reading...
The championship game of this year’s tournament, in which Venezuela defeated the U.S., 3-2, drew an average of 10.78 million viewers on Tuesday, Fox Sports announced. The telecast viewership reportedly peaked with 12.15 million at the game’s end in the 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET window.
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That’s a 128% increase over the American numbers of the previous World Baseball Classic final, Japan’s win over Team USA in 2023. That game’s 4.48 million average viewers was itself seen as a record-shattering number, and this year it was more than doubled.
To be clear, these are just the U.S. numbers. The WBC often also sees strong numbers in Latin America.
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Venezuela won the 2026 World Baseball Classic. So did Fox Sports. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Al Bello via Getty Images
In fact, 10.78 million viewers puts this year’s WBC final above several past World Series games in 2020, 2021 and 2023, seasons which represent the ratings nadir of the Fall Classic. The numbers of the 2024 and 2025 World Series — held between the Los Angeles Dodgers and two big-market East Coast teams — have been much stronger, with 2025’s Game 7 landing 26.88 million average viewers.
Still, it’s not far off to say the WBC is now producing World Series-level ratings for MLB and its broadcast partner, at a time of year when the league usually has only little-watched spring training games.
Per Fox, the tournament overall drew an average of 1.29 million viewers across Fox, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, a 156% increase from 2023’s 506,000. Attendance also set records with 1,355,266 total attendees and 28,835 per game.
It’s an event the undeniably has momentum, though changes could also be coming down the line.
Continue reading...
