The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
