The thrilling extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
