The exciting extra-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, 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 MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
