The exciting extra-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51 million watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
