Fall Classic Final Game Captures 51M Viewers Across the United States, Canada and Japanese Markets.
The exciting 11-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
