The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this marks the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
