The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
