The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51M viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
