The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51M spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.