The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
