The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51M watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
