The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate over 50 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic game drew over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
