World Series Game 7 Attracts 51M Viewers In the US, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The nail-biting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51M watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes 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 matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various languages.