The exciting extended clash where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51M watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
