The exciting extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
