The exciting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
