The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best postseason 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 various languages.
