The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
