The nail-biting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51M spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
