The nail-biting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
