The exciting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
