Fall Classic Game 7 Draws 51M Audience Members In the United States, Canada and Japanese Regions.
The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.