The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total over 50 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
