Fall Classic Final Game Attracts 51M Viewers In the US, Canada and Japan Regions.
The exciting extended contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a total over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
