The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
