The nail-biting extended contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
