The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total over 50 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after 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 the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – 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 World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
