The nail-biting extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M viewers 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 additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
