The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership was over 16 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
