The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US viewership reached over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
