Brewers-Dodgers NLCS Sparks Historic Viewership, Shows Fans Watching Closely

Don't ever let anyone tell you that fans around the league don't care about the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers may not play in a massive market, like Los Angeles, Boston or New York, but the fans in Milwaukee care about their ballclub and certainly tune in. Throughout the run to the World Series so far, there has been some social media buzz about the idea of two small-market clubs facing off in the World Series and how that could be bad for viewership. The Brewers already knocked out the Los Angeles Dodgers and now will face either the Cleveland Guardians or Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.

Despite the fact that Milwaukee may not be the biggest market, fans watched its series against the Dodgers very closely. In fact, FOX Sports shared on X on Monday that the NLCS actually was the most-watched championship series since at least 2015 with an average of over 7.53 million. Viewership was up 77 percent from the 2025 American League Championship Series, per FOX Sports.

Fans were paying attention, to say the least, as Milwaukee took down the two-time reigning World Series champions in just four games. Brewers fans showed love for their team and now Milwaukee is just four wins away from winning the first World Series title in franchise history. The World Series will begin on Friday against either the Rays or the Guardians at American Family Field.

These viewership numbers arguably are more important than just an individual game or series. Baseball is currently in a good place. It could always improve, of course, but baseball in general has been on the rise. Unfortunately, the progress the league has made is at risk right now. Fans are paying attention. Will that still be the case if there is a long lockout? Maybe. But also maybe not. The MLB and MLBPA are negotiating behind the scenes and the current collective bargaining agreement will expire in December.

The business side of the game is what is going to get tricky this winter. Will a salary cap be added? That's the biggest question mark hanging over the organization and will likely impact whether baseball is played in 2027. Things aren't perfect right now. The Dodgers are an example of that with all of their spending now, and pushed into the future. But they're not the only issue. Teams like the Miami Marlins are an issue as well as they don't spend. The gap needs to be sorted out, but the league also needs to make sure that it doesn't give itself unnecessary bad press.

Baseball fans are watching. Can the league and MLBPA find a way to make it work?