The thrilling extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
