Fall Classic Game 7 Attracts 51 Million Audience Members Across the US, Canada and Japan Regions.
The exciting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete US 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 MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
