The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined over 50 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason performance since 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
