The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33M 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 also is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
