The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51M spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
