Fall Classic Final Game Draws 51M Audience Members Across the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The exciting extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a total over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
