World Series Game 7 Captures 51 Million Audience Members Across the United States, Canadian and Japan Regions.
The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.