The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a total over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US average was over 16 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
