The nail-biting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
