The exciting extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51M watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US average was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
