The thrilling extra-inning contest where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
