World Series Game 7 Draws 51 Million Viewers Across the United States, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The thrilling extra-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
