The thrilling extended clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
