The exciting 11-inning clash where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
