The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
