The exciting extended matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51M watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this represents the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average reached over 16 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 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
