The exciting extended contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
