The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a total over 50 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
