The thrilling extra-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
