The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
