The exciting 11-inning clash where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
