The nail-biting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a total over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
