The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined over 50 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
