The exciting extended matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1M. The overall 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 recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
