Fall Classic Final Game Draws 51M Audience Members Across the US, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The exciting extended contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
