The exciting extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest drew 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
