The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51M viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
