The exciting 11-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this marks the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
