World Series Final Game Draws 51M Viewers In the US, Canada and Japan Regions.
The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
