Fall Classic Final Game Draws 51 Million Viewers Across the US, Canada and Japanese Markets.
The exciting 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51M watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball announced this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
