The exciting extended matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
