The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
