Fall Classic Final Game Captures Over 50 Million Viewers Across the United States, Canada and Japanese Markets.
The thrilling extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last 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 seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
