MLB Postseason Viewership Hits 15-Year High
NEW YORK – October 9,2025 – major League Baseball’s (MLB) postseason is drawing record audiences,with viewership reaching its highest point in 15 years. The surge in popularity comes as the league continues to experiment with broadcast strategies and engage a wider fanbase.
According to data released today, average viewership for the MLB postseason across all networks is up 12% compared to 2024, marking the most-watched postseason since 2010. The League Division Series saw an average of 2.85 million viewers per game, a significant increase from the 2.5 million recorded last year.
ESPN’s coverage of the opening night of the 2025/26 National Hockey League (NHL) season rose by 37 per cent year-on-year to 768,000. The Disney-owned pay-TV broadcaster aired three games, with the clash between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers attracting 1.09 million viewers, making it the second most-watched opening night fixture since 2023.
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals averaged 1.5 million on ESPN and ABC, the second most-watched series since 2000 and only marginally less than the 1.6 million who tuned in last year. Meanwhile, all four games averaged at least one million viewers, becoming the third WNBA Finals to do so after 1998 and 2024.
The frist 13 matches of the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World cup were watched by more than 60 million viewers globally, with India and Pakistan alone attracting 28.4 million.This makes it the most-watched women’s international cricket match of all time.
WWE Raw is averaging 6.5 million viewing hours as debuting on Netflix in January. Netflix’s WWE content, which also includes smackdown and premium live events outside the US, was a major factor in the platform achieving 300 million viewing hours during the first half of 2025.
The National hot Rod association (NHRA) delivered the most-watched broadcast in its history, averaging 2.07 million viewers and peaking at 3.63 million on Fox for the Texas FallNationals. The NHRA led all other motorsport series in the US for viewership, with Nascar averaging 1.7 million viewers for its Cup Series playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on USA Network.
