The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game drew 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 program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. 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 averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
