The nail-biting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
