The thrilling extended clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
