MLB Playoff Television Ratings Are Way Up Already

We're almost through the wild card round of the Major League Baseball playoffs, and television ratings are already way up from previous seasons. And there's plenty more fascinating matchups and potential matchups coming.

Through Wednesday on ESPN/ABC, wild card round games are averaging 2.62 million viewers, which is up 16 percent from the same time frame in the 2023 postseason. Game two between the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers was the most watched MLB game of the season thus far, with 3.70 million viewers. That also represented the second-highest rating for a wild card round playoff game since the new format started in 2022.

Impressively, game one between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres went up against the Vice Presidential debate on Tuesday night, and still managed to pull 2.9 million viewers, comparable to last year's matchups.

Baseball's changes may have infuriated baseball purists, but they're paying off with casual fans.

SAN DIEGO - Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres adjusts his hat against the Atlanta Braves during the fourth inning in Game Two of the Wild Card Series at Petco Park on October 2, 2024.  (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

MLB Postseason Ratings Could Be Headed Higher In Future Rounds

The Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers are small market teams still in the playoffs, pending the result of the Brewers' game three against the Mets. But the two most popular teams in the sport, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers have yet to start their first postseason series.

Mets-Phillies would be a highly watched matchup between two big market teams. Dodgers-Padres has the intensity of a division rivalry and star power with Shohei Ohtani, Fernando Tatis Jr., Mookie Betts and Manny Machado. 

And there's even the possibility of back-to-back New York-LA series. MLB could benefit from a  Mets-Dodgers series and the Holy Grail of television ratings In the World Series with Dodgers-Yankees.

Or they could get Tigers-Brewers.

Regardless, the leagues' changes to increase pace of play and shorten game times is clearly working. Attendance was up, ratings in the regular season were up, and now postseason ratings have risen substantially too. After years of seeming decline, baseball is finally heading in the right direction.