Venezuela defeated Team USA, 3-2, in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) final Tuesday, and the game was historic in more ways than one.
Venezuela won its first-ever WBC title, and players flooded the field with emotion and pride as they celebrated the thrilling victory.
History was also made during the telecast when 10,784,000 viewers watched the final on FOX and FOX Deportes.
It became the most-watched WBC telecast of all time.
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The telecast averaged 10,228,000 viewers, while hitting its peak at 12,148,000 from 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET on FOX.
This number was up 128% from the Team USA-Japan WBC final on FS1 during the 2023 tournament, when Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to seal a third WBC win for his country.
While this game had all the thrills, the WBC turned out to be an exciting tournament from the very start with pool play.
Whether it was feel-good stories like Ondřej Satoria’s standing ovation from Japanese fans at the Tokyo Dome during his final outing for Czechia or Italy’s espresso machine home run celebration, viewers from all over were tuning in to watch magic happen on the diamond.
The tournament averaged 1,294,000 viewers across FOX, FS1 and FS2, making it the most-watched WBC in its 20-year history on English language networks.
It looked like Venezuela was going to shut out Team USA, which had just two hits and four base runners in the bottom of the eighth inning when Bryce Harper walked to the plate.
The game turned on its head when Harper belted a two-run homer to tie the game during the peak viewing window.
Venezuela, though, never blinked. Eugenio Suarez hit a rope to left-center field, scoring the game-winning run with a double.
Daniel Palencia closed things out for Venezuela, sealing the win with a strikeout of Roman Anthony. The party ensued for Venezuela at loanDepot Park.
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