The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
