The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
