The nail-biting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million viewers 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 World Series has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total American average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
