The exciting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51M viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
