The exciting extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average was over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
