The nail-biting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
