The thrilling extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball announced this is the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
