The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate over 50 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance since 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
