The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, 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 since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
