The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s 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 matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
