Dodgers-Yankees Series Hits Grand Slam: Viewership, Social Media, Merch, Marketing

By Barry Janoff

Nov. 2, 2024: The Los Angeles Dodgers rode Freddie Freeman’s Game 1 10th inning walk-off grand slam to a World Series championship.

MLB rode it to a grand slam in viewership, social media interaction, marketing and merchandise.

The 2024 World Series presented by Capital One “generated large increases and record fan engagement across domestic and international viewership, merchandise sales, attendance and social media as the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in five games,” according to MLB.

The series averaged 15.81 million, its best showing since 2017, on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming,

Game 5 averaged 18.6 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming, the most-watched game in the Fall Classic since Game 7 in 2019 (Washington Nationals’victory over the Houston Astros, 23.22 million).

The impact was felt overseas, thanks in large part to the presence of Dodgers stars Shohei Ohtani and  Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

It was the most-watched World Series all-time in Japan with an average of 12.1 million viewers, according to MLB. All World Series games aired live at 9 AM local time in Japan through Fuji TV, NHK BS, and J Sports.

Dodgers World Series-clinch products set a record for the first 24 hours of sales following any championship clinch, across all sports, according to digital sports platform Fanatics, MLB’s official e-commerce partner.

In the first 24 hours following the championship victory, sales were higher than the 2020 Dodgers by +24%, 2021 Atlanta Braves by +43% and 2016 Chicago Cubs by +24%.

Japan ranked as the second highest country in sales behind the U.S. 

Ohtani ranked as the most popular among player-specific merchandise followed by World Series MVP Freeman, Mookie Betts, Yamamoto and Clayton Kershaw. Seconds after the final out, Fanatics launched more than 850 unique World Series Champions products from dozens of MLB licensees to celebrate the moment.

The data is from sales across the Fanatics network of online stores, including MLBShop.com and Fanatics.com.

Game 1 in Dodger Stadium and Game 3 in Yankee Stadium set an all-time record as the top two games for merchandise sales in World Series history.

Merchandise sales at the MLB Flagship Store in New York set an all-time sales record for the World Series dating back to its opening in 2020.

New York's Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani featured prominently in MLB’s multi-media marketing, including broadcast, Internet, social media, print and such out-of-home locations as New York’s Times Square, L.A.’s The Grove, The Sphere in Las Vegas.

There were also “113 digital billboards in Tokyo, with 113 representing the total of Ohtani’s stolen bases (59) and home runs (54),” according to The Los Angeles Times.

Viewership in Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Taiwan as well as on the MLB app, which recorded its best World Series in history, pushed the average global viewership past 30 million viewers with additional countries still to report.

The World Series was available in more than 203 countries and territories through 162 media distributors in 16 different languages.

Younger fans drove the significant gains, with the 18-34 year-old demographic increasing by +101% making it the largest increase of any of the demos.

The 2024 World Series also registered the most social interactions in World Series history with a +176% increase in engagements and +209% surge in video views compared to 2023.

Demonstrating how people outside the U.S. consumed the World Series in different time zones, 61% of the 210 million views on MLB’s YouTube were attributed to international viewers — a +210% increase.

Japan was the top country on YouTube, making up 20% of international viewership on the platform.

Stand Up To Cancer Gets World Series Game 4 Spotlight In Yankee Stadium

MLB Global Marketing, Growth: ‘2024 Was A Strong Year, 2025 Will Be Even Better’

World Series Activation Puts Spotlight On Celebrity Fans, MLB Star Power

Back to Home Page