The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable game drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
