The exciting extended contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
