The thrilling extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51M viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
