The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada 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 attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
