The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel 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 game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
