Fall Classic Game 7 Draws 51 Million Viewers Across the US, Canada and Japanese Markets.
The thrilling extended clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
