The nail-biting extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this is the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance since 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
