The exciting extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51M spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
