The thrilling extended contest where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average reached over 16 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
