World Series Game 7 Draws 51 Million Audience Members In the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The nail-biting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.