The exciting extended contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
