The exciting 11-inning clash where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
