The exciting extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
