The thrilling extended contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
