The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents 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 total American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
