The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51M spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
