The thrilling 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total over 50 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
