The nail-biting 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
