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Has baseball overtaken the NBA as the second most popular sport in the United States?
On Sunday, the LA Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series.
According to Fox, the Dodgers-Blue Jays game 7 got massive ratings.
Twenty-five million nine hundred eighty-four thousand viewers tuned in for the @Dodgers back-to-back, dramatic clinch of the Fall Classic across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports streaming services – the most since 2017.
25,984,000 viewers tuned in for the @Dodgers back-to-back, dramatic clinch of the Fall Classic across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports streaming services – the most since 2017. 🏆
🏔️ On FOX, #WorldSeries Game 7 peaked with 31,543,000 viewers from 11:30-11:45 PM ET
Numbers are… pic.twitter.com/xR0CNPh7oV
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) November 3, 2025
Fans immediately compared the 25.9 million World Series numbers to Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, which generated 16.6 million viewers.
The NBA and MLB both had a Game 7 for its championship this year. Both games were dramatic. The average viewership numbers weren’t close:
NBA Finals: 16.61 million
World Series: 25.98 million— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) November 3, 2025
Fans are now questioning if baseball is more popular than basketball in the US.
“At what point can we say that MLB has passed the NBA for the number two spot of the four major sports, or are we already there?” said one fan.
“It appears baseball is firmly the number two sport in America. The World Series has demolished the NBA Finals over the last two years. The pitch clock has changed everything and is bringing fans back. Conversely, I think fans are rejecting the style of play in the NBA.” said another fan.
The numbers don’t lie and it does seem like MLB’s popularity is rising fast.