The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51M watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
