The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51M viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
