The exciting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
