The nail-biting 11-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51M viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American average was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
