The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
