Fall Classic Game 7 Captures 51M Audience Members In the US, Canada and Japanese Regions.
The exciting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
