The thrilling extended clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
