The nail-biting 11-inning clash where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
