The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51 million viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
