Fall Classic Final Game Draws Over 50 Million Audience Members Across the US, Canada and Japan Markets.
The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was 16.1 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
