A World Series rematch is just what ESPN needed to highlight its ratings rebound so far in the 2025 MLB season. In what is projected to be the league’s last of a 35-year relationship with ESPN, Sunday night’s snazzy matchup put the spotlight on what it could still be.
What were the ratings like?
More Than 2.7 Million Watch Dodgers-Yankees in Largest Sunday Night MLB Viewing in Seven Years
ESPN’s Buster Olney reported on X that Sunday night’s Dodgers-Yankees MLB telecast on the network averaged 2.73 million viewers, the largest audience for Sunday Night Baseball in seven years.
Sunday Night Baseball Yankees-Dodgers averaged 2.73m viewers. Largest SNB audience in seven years.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 3, 2025
In a World Series rematch, Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run on five hits in six innings as the Yankees won 7-3 in Los Angeles to avoid a three-game sweep.
A listed average of 2,729,000 viewers watched the Yankees triumph, with a peak audience of more than three million.
According to Alex Feuz, Sunday night’s match was the most-watched Sunday Night Baseball matchup on ESPN since August 2018. More importantly for ESPN, the numbers are the greatest representation of a 2025 season that, with over 1.7 million viewers on average, is 16% higher than last year, giving the network its best ratings in this slot since 2017.
As the season heads toward next month’s All-Star break, viewership numbers could continue to grow with a combination of compelling matchups and school being out. For instance, a major National League East battle is coming up on Sunday, June 22, when the first-place New York Mets travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies.
These heightened numbers may prove bittersweet, however, as ESPN and MLB are set to part ways following the 2025 season after 35 years. The two still have a year left on a national broadcasting rights deal that reportedly averaged $550 million per season in a package that included 30 games annually, including 25 for Sunday Night Baseball, as well as the league’s annual Home Run Derby during the All-Star break.
All major sports are exploring alternative and advanced broadcasting options, including a plethora of streaming opportunities. That includes MLB, which already has a Friday Night Baseball partnership with Apple TV.
After three decades-plus watching MLB and listening to the likes of Jon Miller and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, baseball appears to be on its way out the door at ESPN. But with increased viewership, like Sunday’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup, which surpassed last year’s Sunday Night Baseball season average by 81%, it seems more and more aficionados of the national pastime are tuning in a few more times before the deal is officially done.