The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
