The nail-biting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
