The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
