The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
