The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51M viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
