The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US average reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
