The nail-biting extended matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
