Fall Classic Final Game Captures 51 Million Viewers In the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The exciting extended matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total over 50 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
