The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million watchers across the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
