The nail-biting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51M watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
