World Series Game 7 Draws Over 50 Million Audience Members Across the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51M spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
