The exciting extended clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
