More than 10 million people tuned into World Series Games 1-2

Who wants to watch Milwaukee play Tampa Bay, they asked.

Who’ll watch two small-market teams with meager payrolls and outdated play styles battle, they questioned.

Pundits called it a disaster for baseball, not far from DEFCON 1 for the MLB.

A lot of people had a lot of opinions about the Brewers and the Rays facing off in the World Series.

A lot more people − more than 10 million, to be exact − shut them up.

FOX Sports opens the #WorldSeries with a strong start, highlighted by 12,259,000 viewers for Game 1 and 10,854,000 for Game 2. via @FOXSportsPR https://t.co/uZ6mzZqVtq

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 27, 2026

Game 1 of the World Series drew 12.26 million viewers across Fox, Univision and Fox Deportes, making it the most-watched telecast on any network that day.

That means more people watched the Brewers win − twice − on Oct. 23 than they saw any of the other Game 1s in 2020, ’21, ’22 and ’23.

It wasn’t a fluke, either.

About 10.85 million were treated to the Brewers’ five unanswered runs after trailing, 4-0, in the first inning to win, 5-4, and take a 2-0 series lead. That’s more viewers than Game 2s in 2020, ’21 and ’23.

Those numbers don’t sound so “f—ing terrible,” Anthony Rizzo, do they?

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Jack Albright covers West Allis, Greenfield, Greendale, Hales Corners and West Milwaukee. He can be reached at JAlbright@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: More than 10 million people tuned into World Series Games 1-2

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