The thrilling extended clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51M watchers across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
