The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this marks the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday 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 previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
