The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
