The exciting 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51M spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
