The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
