The exciting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
