The thrilling extended contest where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game drew over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
