BASEBALL: Venezuela's WBC title win over US draws record ratings

Venezuela's win over the United States didn't just deliver the World Baseball Classic's first new champion in a decade, it also delivered the biggest audience the tournament has ever seen.

Tuesday's title game from Miami averaged 10.78 million viewers across FOX, Fox Deportes, and streaming, setting a new event record, and peaked at 12.15 million as it tightened late.

The final number was a fitting cap to a tournament that kept raising its own bar. The championship broadcast finished 46% higher than the previous WBC record set just two days earlier, when the U.S. semifinal win over the Dominican Republic drew 7.37 million.

It wasn't just American games driving the surge, as Venezuela's semifinal win over Italy averaged 3.76 million viewers, the most-watched WBC telecast ever that didn't feature Team USA.

FOX's overall tournament audience also increased, averaging 1.29 million viewers across FOX, FS1 and FS2. This marked a 156% rise from the 2023 WBC, helped by a record 78 MLB All-Stars participating and a noticeably higher level of intensity from players who treated the tournament more like a serious championship than an exhibition.

-Field Level Media/Reuters