Fall Classic Final Game Captures 51M Viewers Across the United States, Canada and Japanese Regions.
The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff performance since 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
