The nail-biting extra-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
