The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
