The thrilling extended clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew over 27 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 also stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
