The exciting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
