The exciting extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
