The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This followed 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 most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
