The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
