The thrilling extended contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
