The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
