The thrilling extended clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
