The nail-biting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
