The thrilling extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
