The exciting extended clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
