The exciting extended contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
