The nail-biting extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51M spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
