The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
