The nail-biting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
