World Series Game 7 Captures Over 50 Million Audience Members In the US, Canada and Japan Regions.
The exciting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate over 50 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB announced this marks the most-watched World Series finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
