The nail-biting extra-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
