World Series Game 7 Attracts 51 Million Viewers Across the US, Canada and Japan Markets.
The thrilling extended clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this marks the most-watched Fall Classic finale after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series drew over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
