The exciting extended contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average was over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s best playoff performance since 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
