The exciting 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
