The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate over 50 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series drew over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various languages.
