The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
