The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51M spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after 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. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
