The nail-biting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB reported this represents the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
