The thrilling extended clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
