Fall Classic Final Game Draws 51 Million Viewers Across the US, Canada and Japanese Markets.
The nail-biting extended contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
