Fall Classic Final Game Attracts 51M Audience Members Across the United States, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The thrilling extended clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.