The exciting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership was over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
