The exciting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
