The exciting 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US average was over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
