The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total over 50 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
