The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
