World Series Game 7 Captures 51M Viewers Across the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete 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 complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.