The exciting extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
