The thrilling extended clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US average was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
