The exciting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1M. The total 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 over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various languages.
