World Series Final Game Attracts 51 Million Audience Members In the United States, Canadian and Japan Regions.
The exciting 11-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
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 broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.