The thrilling extended matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports 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 stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
