The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51M spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
