The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
