The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51M spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached over 16 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
