The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
