The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
