The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71 million viewers 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 seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
