The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this is the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
