The exciting extended clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51M spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this represents the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
