The nail-biting extended contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
