The thrilling extended clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51M viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
