The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
