The exciting extended contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51M spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
