The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
