The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51M watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
