The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American average was over 16 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
