The exciting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
