The nail-biting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51M watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
