The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’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 forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
