The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this is the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
