The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
