The exciting 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51M spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
