The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51M spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series 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 the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average 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 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.