The thrilling extended matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent 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 growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
