The exciting extended contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous 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 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
