The thrilling extended matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51 million watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
