The thrilling extended contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
