The exciting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB announced this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M viewers 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 also is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
