All-time classic Yankees-Dodgers World Series Game 1 was a TV ratings bonanza

The star-studded Yankees and Dodgers colliding in the World Series was supposed to deliver a thrilling best-of-seven finale to the MLB season, and that’s exactly what happened in Game 1 with Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam.

That hype — combined with the viewership potential that New York and Los Angeles provided — translated to Fox’s television ratings, too.

Game 1 collected 15.2 million viewers Friday night — peaking at 17.8 million viewers starting at 11:30 p.m. — during the Dodgers’ 6-3 win, making it the most-watched World Series opener since the 2017 showdown between Los Angeles and the Astros and reflecting 62 percent increase in Game 1 audience from last year’s Fall Classic between the Diamondbacks and the Rangers, according to the network.

The Yankees-Dodgers audience was greeted with a thrilling finish for Game 1, too.

After the Yankees took a one-run lead in the 10th inning, Jake Cousins walked Gavin Lux before Tommy Edman reached on an infield single, prompting Yankees manager Aaron Boone to insert Nestor Cortes — a starter who hasn’t pitched in a game since Sept. 18 while recovering from a left elbow flexor strain — to face left-handed hitter Shohei Ohtani.

Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:

Cortes retired Ohtani, courtesy of a highlight-reel catch from Alex Verdugo, but after Boone opted to intentionally walk Mookie Betts, Freeman connected on Cortes’ next pitch and sent it 409 feet over the right-field fence to secure the win.

That led to an iconic call from Fox play-by-play broadcaster Joe Davis, who reference longtime Dodgers voice Vin Scully and his call of Kirk Gibson’s iconic homer in the 1988 World Series with a “she is gone” line as the ball cleared the wall — before adding, “Gibby, meet Freddie” as Freeman neared first base.

It’s not the first instance of strong viewership this postseason, as the Mets and the Brewers set an ESPN ratings record for Game 3 of their NL Wild Card Series — when Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to save the Mets’ postseason run — by averaging 4.017 million viewers and hitting a maximum of 5.745 million.

MLB has experienced a league-wide bump in ratings this postseason across the first three rounds, too, according to Forbes.

The Dodgers will look to take a 2-0 advantage in the Fall Classic when Yoshinobu Yamamoto — the Japanese ace in his first MLB season who has allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out 10 across his last two playoff starts — attempts to out-duel Carlos Rodon, who has likewise been strong for the Yankees during his second and third starts of the postseason.