The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
