The exciting 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51M spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
