The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US average was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M 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 the network’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
