The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51M watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
