The exciting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
