The thrilling extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
