The exciting extra-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51M spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
