The exciting extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51M watchers in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
