The nail-biting extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51M viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s best postseason performance since 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
