The nail-biting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
