The nail-biting extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
