The nail-biting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
