Fall Classic Game 7 Attracts 51 Million Viewers Across the United States, Canadian and Japan Regions.
The nail-biting extended clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers 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 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
