The exciting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51M viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
