Fall Classic Game 7 Draws 51 Million Audience Members Across the United States, Canada and Japan Markets.
The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. 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 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
