The exciting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51M spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various languages.
