The exciting extended contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51M viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
