The exciting extra-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
