The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
