The exciting extended contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
