The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate over 50 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American average was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
