Fall Classic Final Game Draws Over 50 Million Viewers Across the United States, Canada and Japanese Markets.
The thrilling extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
