The Major League Baseball World Series averaged 14.55 million viewers in two games, the best start for the Fall Classic since 2017.
The Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday averaged 13.44 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes, and streaming platforms. This represents a 65% increase compared to last year's second game, which was watched by 8.15 million people and became the second least-watched game in World Series history.
Saturday's game was the most-watched Game 2 since 2018 when the Dodgers and Red Sox faced off in a game that averaged 13.81 million viewers.
According to Nielsen, the Saturday audience peaked at 16.35 million viewers in the ninth inning.
The game had a rating of 17.3 and a share of 55 in Los Angeles, and a rating of 10.3 and a share of 32 in New York.
Ratings represent a percentage of televisions turned on. Share refers to the percentage of the audience that was watching at that moment.
Ohtani will play in the third game of the World Series with the Dodgers
Shohei Ohtani will play with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third game of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, manager Dave Roberts informed ESPN.
Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder when sliding into second base while attempting a steal during the seventh inning of Saturday's 4-2 victory in the second game against the Yankees in Los Angeles.
But the Japanese superstar received the green light to play on Monday, Roberts said on Sunday to ESPN in a text message. Roberts had a press conference scheduled later at Yankee Stadium.
Los Angeles has a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series and is two wins away from their second title in five years.
Roberts indicated on Saturday that Ohtani "had a small shoulder dislocation" and that they would perform an imaging test on Saturday or Sunday.
Ohtani grabbed his left forearm after being put out by shortstop Anthony Volpe for the final out of the seventh inning. The Japanese player stayed near the base for a couple of minutes before being attended to by a physiotherapist and leaving the field.
Roberts said after the meeting that he felt encouraged because Ohtani had good strength and movement in his shoulder, but that the team needed to see the results of the examination before determining his status.
The Japanese slugger - the top favorite for the National League MVP - finished 3-0, with a walk in the second game. He has one hit in eight at-bats in the first two games of the Fall Classic. His batting average is .260, with three home runs and 10 RBIs in his first postseason in the Major Leagues.
Ohtani is one of the few Dodgers players who finished the season without any major injuries. The pitching roster has been affected by injuries, and almost all of their starters have spent time on the injured list.
Among their field players, Mookie Betts was out for almost two months due to a fracture in his left hand and Max Muncy was sidelined for almost half of the season because of a strain in his right oblique. Freddie Freeman is playing in the playoffs with a severe sprain in his right ankle.
Ohtani has not pitched this year, but he became the first player in Major League Baseball history to have at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.