The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s best playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
