The nail-biting 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51M spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
