The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
