The nail-biting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
