The thrilling extended clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
