The thrilling 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
