The thrilling extra-inning contest where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match 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 first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
