The nail-biting 11-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average was over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
