Fall Classic Final Game Attracts 51 Million Viewers Across the United States, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The thrilling extra-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51M viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US average was 16.1M. The total 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 eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
