The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks 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 Univision, the complete US viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
