The thrilling 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
