The exciting extended contest where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
