The exciting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this marks the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
