The nail-biting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic 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 over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
