The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
