World Series Final Game Draws 51 Million Viewers Across the US, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total over 50 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average reached 16.1 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
