The nail-biting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
