The nail-biting extra-inning clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total over 50 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over last year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
