The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
