The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average was over 16 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
