The exciting 11-inning clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB announced this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
