The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
