Fall Classic Final Game Draws 51 Million Viewers Across the US, Canada and Japan Markets.
The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51M viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US average was 16.1 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
