The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance since 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 various languages.
