The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
