The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
