The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
