The thrilling extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership was 16.1 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
