Rob Manfred pleased with MLB postseason viewership thus far

So far, October baseball has been delivering in a big way.

MLB postseason viewership has had a bit of a renaissance this fall. The league has touted a number of records during both the Wild Card round and the Division Series.

Per MLB PR, Wild Card round viewership averaged 4.6 million viewers between ESPN and ABC, the most-watched Wild Card round since transitioning to the new best-of-three format in 2022. Game 3 of the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox Wild Card series set a new single-game record for the round, averaging 7.4 million viewers. The league is even setting records in Japan, where Game 1 of the Los Angeles Dodgers-Cincinnati Reds series drew 6.4 million viewers.

This all to say, the league is quite happy with how the viewership story is trending this season. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said as much during a recent appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show.

“Honestly, some of the numbers have been phenomenal,” Manfred said. “I mean, the Wild Card round on ESPN was up 64%. The Division Series, we’re going to have our highest ratings in 10 years. That’s a long time to go back, particularly given how the media landscape has changed.

“And you know, people talk about, ‘Well, gee, you know, you’re going to have a team from Canada.’ You know, the Yankee-Toronto series averaged 6.7 million viewers in the U.S. and Canada. And that’s a great showing for us and again, is an emphasis on the internationalization of the sport. It’s not just a U.S. sport.”

Given how many fewer households subscribe to pay TV packages now versus 10 years ago, Manfred is right to suggest the numbers are encouraging. But it’s also important to note that changes to Nielsen’s methodologies have recently served to boost live sports viewership numbers versus historical comparisons.

Regardless, the quality of the games seem to have made an impact. MLB has been blessed with a number of series that have gone the distance, often times in dramatic fashion. Recent changes like the pitch clock have continued to be met positively by fans. Not to mention, three Yankees-Red Sox games to kickoff the postseason is a nice way to start from a viewership perspective.

“I’ve taken a lot of pride in those numbers and I feel great for the game that it’s producing those kinds of numbers,” Manfred shared.

After a healthy increase during the regular season, the league should be encouraged by its strong postseason start.