The thrilling extended contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
