The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
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 position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
