Fall Classic Final Game Attracts 51M Audience Members Across the US, Canada and Japanese Markets.
The exciting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
