The exciting extended clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
