The nail-biting extended contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
