The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per 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 edition final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different languages.
