The exciting extended matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51 million watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
