The thrilling extended matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total over 50 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
