Fall Classic Final Game Attracts 51M Viewers In the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The exciting extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51M viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
