The thrilling extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51M viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
