The exciting extended clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
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 Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
