The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
