With MLB lockout looming, this year’s World Series will produce the first champion from the league’s bottom half of spenders since the 2015 Kansas City Royals, a data point at odds with recent messaging from league leadership about payroll and performance.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said in July that boosting competitive balance remains central to the sport’s growth. He argued that fans across markets need to believe before Opening Day that their team can contend, and he linked that concern to the league’s ongoing effort to secure a salary cap.
Manfred’s remarks came as Major League Baseball has pressed the case that club payrolls correlate with on-field success, a claim that has been challenged by critics who point to variance in postseason outcomes and the role of player development, health and strategy.
The MLB Players Association countered that the current World Series matchup underscores that the system works without a cap. In a statement, union executive Tony Clark’s deputy Bruce Meyer said the league’s competitive balance rationale for a cap “holds no water,” adding that the push is really about boosting profits and franchise valuations.
Will people watch the MLB lockout World Series?
Attention is now turning to whether a small-market World Series will affect television ratings. According to Nielsen, combined viewership for this year’s ALCS and NLCS edged up compared with last season, suggesting interest in the playoffs remains resilient even without traditional marquee brands.
Recent World Series featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, averaged more than 15 million viewers, the highest since 2017. Tampa Bay’s first appearance in 2008 averaged 13 million viewers, which was then a record low. Its 2020 trip, played during the Covid-19 pandemic against the Dodgers, drew an average of 9.8 million, still the second-smallest on record by Nielsen.
Market size appeared to influence audience levels earlier in the postseason. The Tampa Bay Rays drew 3.7 million viewers against the Cleveland Guardians after pulling 4 million against the Yankees, per Nielsen. The Milwaukee Brewers’ Division Series with the San Diego Padres averaged 2.6 million, while Milwaukee’s matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers reached 7.9 million viewers per game.