The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51M spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
