The thrilling 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
