The early viewership numbers for the World Baseball Classic are in, and they’re painting a pretty exciting picture. If you’ve caught a regular-season baseball game lately, you might have guessed it: Team USA in the 2026 WBC is showcasing talent that rivals any MLB lineup from last year.
Fox's broadcasts of the U.S. matchups against Brazil and Great Britain have been pulling in impressive numbers, averaging 2.64 million and 2.98 million viewers, respectively. To put that in perspective, these games would have ranked second and fourth among all regular-season games televised in 2025, according to Sports Media Watch.
The only game that outperformed the U.S.-Great Britain clash was a classic Yankees-Red Sox showdown on June 7, 2025, which drew 3.0 million viewers. Even a World Series rematch between the Yankees and Dodgers on June 1, 2025, averaged slightly less, with 2.7 million viewers, based on Nielsen ratings.
Looking at the bigger picture, the first two rounds of the 2025 MLB postseason averaged 4.3 million viewers, while the ALCS and NLCS drew averages of 5.0 and 4.7 million, respectively. These are the benchmarks for the WBC as it moves into the elimination rounds.
Right now, the star-studded U.S. team, featuring big names like Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes, and Tarik Skubal, is certainly living up to the hype and driving viewership as expected. For the WBC and its TV partners, this is a fantastic beginning.