The 2024 World Series is underway as the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the New York Yankees in two games to zero.
Game three will shift the series to New York after the Dodgers take both games at home and take a two game lead.
These two historic Major League Baseball franchises may have something to do with the rise in viewership in the United States.
Viewership is not only up in the United States, but Japan is also posting record viewing figures as Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto both take part.
Japan averaged 15.9 million viewers for Game 2, the most ever for a postseason game, according to “X” MLB Communications.
The 2024 World Series is averaging about 30 million viewers in the U.S. and Japan, where the country has record viewership. pic.twitter.com/FMgUrZLbMb
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) October 28, 2024
The presence of Ohtani and Yamamoto is likely a factor in the increase in viewership since Ohtani is one of the most popular players in the game and hails from Japan.
Yamamoto also started the second game for the Dodgers, where he was dominant, going 6.1 innings and allowing one hit, one earned run and two walks while striking out four in the win.
With the star power of this series including Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, it makes sense that the viewership numbers are up.
Ohtani appeared to hurt his shoulder in the second game, but he will be the starter in the third game.
Yamamoto could potentially get a start in this series as well, depending on how deep the streak is.
The game seems to be growing worldwide and it will be interesting to see if viewership in Japan continues to grow.
NEXT:
Jose Trevino gets candid about starting World Series One
