The nail-biting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total over 50 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
