The thrilling extra-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
