The exciting 11-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
