World Series Game 7 Draws 51 Million Viewers In the US, Canada and Japan Markets.
The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined over 50 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which 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 sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
