The exciting extended clash where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51M watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
