The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51M viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 various languages.
