The exciting extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51M spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
