The nail-biting extended matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51M spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
