Major League Baseball was already licking its lips at the World Series contenders in the playoffs. With names like the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB was confident that the league finals would be contested by teams with great media clout. However, with the elimination of the vast majority of them, it would be Dave Roberts’ side who would be the last hope, according to Outkick.
Like any other company, Major League Baseball (MLB) seeks ratings, audiences, viewers who will pay for the event and watch the commercials that appear on television and streaming platforms to watch the game. That’s what media giants like the Yankees could give them for the 2025 World Series, but in the Los Angeles Dodgers they would undoubtedly find much of the audience they need.
Why would the Dodgers ‘save’ MLB in 2025?
“The Dodgers are a great brand in baseball and have the best baseball player on the planet, Shohei Ohtani. Although American baseball fans may not tune in just for Ohtani, he comes with a large built-in audience from Japan,” read an article in Outkick. Teams like the Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox, Phillies and Dodgers have fan bases that stretch across the country. All five teams made it to the playoffs.
However, only the Dodgers remain. Obviously, the Yankees attract more than any other team. Their defeat in the American League Division Series was devastating for Major League Baseball. So was the Chicago Cubs’ loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Had the Cubs won their series, MLB would have guaranteed at least the Cubs or Dodgers in the World Series.
But they didn’t, and now the Dodgers are a must. On the American League side, there is no good news. The Seattle Mariners are not a team that draws well across the country. Plus, if it’s the Dodgers and Mariners, that gives the league two West Coast teams, which is terrible for East Coast fans who will likely tune out of the World Series.
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Texas Rangers, the least-watched World Series
In 2023, when the much less popular Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers faced off, it was the least-watched World Series in history (9.1 million average viewers). World Series ratings have been declining for years. There was a time when MLB’s championship series was guaranteed to average 20 million viewers, regardless of the matchup.
Those days are over. Now, the league relies on the big brands to make it to the end. Unfortunately, this season that’s pretty much off the table. The Dodgers are the only draw left, and that’s why MLB desperately needs them to win the National League Championship Series.
On November 1, 2023, the Texas Rangers became World Series champions for the first time in their MLB history by defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 and 4-1 in the series. In the fifth game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona saw its team fall for the third time at home to lose the Major League Baseball title. It was a great pitching duel between Zac Gallen (Arizona) and Nathan Eovaldi (Texas).
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