The exciting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
