Fall Classic Game 7 Captures 51M Audience Members In the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
