Fall Classic Final Game Draws Over 50 Million Viewers Across the United States, Canada and Japan Regions.
The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
