The exciting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
