The thrilling extended clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
