The nail-biting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
