The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers 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 final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player 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.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
