The nail-biting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
