The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
