The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
