The nail-biting 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51M spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
