The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
