The nail-biting extended matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
