The nail-biting 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51M watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
