Fall Classic Game 7 Captures 51M Audience Members In the US, Canada and Japan Regions.
The nail-biting extra-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete 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 since 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.