Fall Classic Final Game Captures 51 Million Viewers Across the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The nail-biting extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.