World Series Final Game Captures 51 Million Audience Members In the United States, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The exciting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total over 50 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
