The nail-biting extended clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US average was over 16 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
