The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
