The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51 million watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total American average was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff 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.
