The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
