The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
