The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience increases for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
