The nail-biting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined over 50 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average was over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
