The thrilling extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
