The thrilling extra-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
