The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
