The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
