The exciting extended contest where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
