The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
