Fall Classic Game 7 Captures 51M Viewers Across the US, Canadian and Japanese Regions.
The exciting 11-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the highest-rated World Series finale since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
