The exciting 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall 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 viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
