The nail-biting 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
