The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
