Fall Classic Final Game Draws 51M Viewers Across the United States, Canada and Japan Markets.
The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete US average reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
