The exciting extended contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance after the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
