The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
