The thrilling 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership 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 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
