The exciting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51 million viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday epic game drew 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup 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 last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
