The exciting extended matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
