The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51M watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete US average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
