The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
