The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
