The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
