The 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series was prepared to face a tough audience as both teams, the Texas Rangers, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, did not have much national appeal. Unfortunately, the World Series was also competing with the NFL, NBA, and college football for viewership, which contributed to this year’s World Series lack of attention. As a result, the 2023 MLB World Series saw very disappointing viewing figures, averaging 9.11 million viewers on Fox, which is lower than the 9.79 million average from the 2020 series, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

*GlobalData’s latest report, “Major League Baseball World Series 2023 Post – Event Analysis” provides an overview of the recent 2023 MLB World Series, including a look at its sponsorship portfolio, broadcasters, attendance, and ticketing.

Olivia Snooks, Associate Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The disappointing viewership for the 2023 MLB World Series was very much expected from those within the sport. The MLB is one of the major professional sports leagues in the US; however, this year’s viewership suggests that the success of the World Series is very much dependent on the national appeal of the two teams, and unfortunately, this year, both teams were lacking.”

This year’s World Series saw a total annual estimated sponsorship value of $730.6 million, including 35 deals. Nike, as the centralised league kit supplier, boasts one of the biggest rights for the World Series, bringing in an estimated $100 million annually. Drinking and live sport means big business, and it is not uncommon to see drink brands like Budweiser partner with sports leagues to better market themselves.

Snooks continues: “The MLB World Series has a large sponsorship revenue, with brands willing to invest large amounts of money into sports leagues. As it is one of the biggest sporting leagues in the US, it is not surprising to see that some of the biggest brands, including Nike, have the rights to the World Series.”

Despite the poor viewership, the MLB World Series did see tickets sell out for several matches. Tickets for the World Series were very expensive and ranged from $400 to $10,000. Despite the ticket prices being the fifth highest on average in MLB history, almost 150,000 spectators attended games 3, 4 and 5, with all three games being sell outs.

Snooks concludes: “Even with the poor viewership for the 2023 MLB World Series, the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks fans were still willing to support their teams in thousands. This goes to show that even though the national appeal of the teams may be low, the local support for both teams did not disappoint and provided the series with the support it deserved.”