The exciting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
