The nail-biting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
