The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
