The exciting 11-inning contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined over 50 million watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason performance since 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
