The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
