The thrilling extended contest where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined over 50 million watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1M. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
