The nail-biting extended matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
