The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
