The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this is the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
