World Series Final Game Draws 51 Million Viewers In the US, Canadian and Japan Regions.
The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51 million viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
