The nail-biting extended contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
