The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 various languages.
