The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined over 50 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
