The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total 51 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
