The thrilling extended matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51M spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
