The thrilling 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
