The nail-biting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
