World Series Final Game Attracts Over 50 Million Audience Members In the US, Canadian and Japan Regions.
The thrilling extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
