The thrilling extended clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
