The nail-biting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51M spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
