The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason performance since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
