The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
