The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51M viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1M. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
