Fall Classic Game 7 Captures Over 50 Million Audience Members Across the US, Canadian and Japanese Regions.
The nail-biting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports 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 additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
