The nail-biting extended clash where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
