World Series Final Game Draws Over 50 Million Viewers Across the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The nail-biting extended clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player 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 the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.