World Series Final Game Captures 51M Audience Members In the US, Canadian and Japanese Regions.
The nail-biting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
