The nail-biting 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51M spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
